A Different Path
by Karina85
Summary: Sakura's on the path to becoming an elite shinobi when devious enemies and a change in her relationship with Kakashi move her in a new direction. KakaSaku, some ShikaSaku. SPOILERS through the current manga.
1. Chapter 1

A Different Path: Chapter 1

Summary: Sakura's journey down the path to becoming an elite shinobi suddenly changes direction when Kakashi begins playing a new role in her life. SPOILERS through the current manga (to be safe)!

AN: Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic so please review and let me know where to improve! Judging from how things are progressing so far, this fic will be fairly long. I will warn you now that this is intended for more mature audiences so please be aware. I am also aware that some may find this pairing offesive, if that is the case please read at your own risk.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto there would be several characters still alive...

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Sakura gazed into her locker at the hospital and stretched. Several vertebrae in her back cracked and she winced. _Today wasn't even that stressful,_ she thought. Making up her mind to hurry home so she could help her mother with dinner, Sakura grabbed her civilian clothes and hastily yanked them on. She threw her scrubs in the laundry bin as she walked by and was soon purposefully striding through the late afternoon sun on her way home.

She glanced at the upstairs windows of her house and saw that the lights were on. Her mother's silhouette was faintly visible, crossing back and forth through the glass and Sakura's stomach tightened momentarily as she noted that her father was home as well.

He had been gone for over a month this last time and she had become complacent. Usually she was on her guard when he was around but she had become used to the absence of his presence. Now she wondered what would greet her when she walked in the door. Would he be her father, or would he be a frustrated ninja who was angry about his impending retirement and was looking for a fight?

Sakura had been able to defend herself for several years now, and he never laid a hand on her. His normal treatment of the daughter he had never wanted included stony silences and the occasional harsh rebuff. And then when he lost his temper…

Since Tsunade had taught her how to defend herself he hadn't even considered hitting Sakura, but what he lacked in physical abuse he made up for with his words. She'd felt his dislike from an early age and had wondered why he hated her so much.

Her mother had finally broken down one day to tell Sakura the sad story behind her birth.

Hoshi and Nariko were much in love when they were younger. Nariko had been a few years behind Hoshi at the academy, but she had always looked up to him. After they had both graduated and become chuunin they had been paired up on a few missions. A shaky acquaintance led to a few dates.

And suddenly, Sakura's mother discovered she was pregnant.

Ninja babies were rare in Konoha. In fact, they were rare in most of the hidden villages as most ninja simply did not survive long enough to both find a mate and reproduce. Nariko considered abortion, or even adoption, but the end she gave into the pressure of her family and hokage. She would keep her baby and raise it to be a shinobi, like its parents.

Hoshi was an honorable man, and he would not let his young lover suffer the burdens of parenthood by herself. So, they agreed to marry. He was pleased at the thought of having an heir to carry on his line.

The day came as Nariko went into labor. She dutifully reported to the hospital and her labor progressed with agonizing slowness. After nearly thirty-six hours in labor the medics' facial expressions suddenly changed.

Nariko's placenta was tearing away from the uterine wall and what had been previously slow labor suddenly turned into a race against time to save the baby. The medics ordered everyone out of the room so they could perform an emergency C-section. When a healthy green-eyed baby girl was born a few minutes later, relief swept through the room. Nariko lied on the operating table in a daze as the medics around her rushed to stop her bleeding and sew her back together. She was faint and dizzy from losing blood and being in pain and the room seemed to spin around her. As the pain medications took over she faded into darkness.

When the doctors placed the tiny, squalling infant in her arms she wept with joy. This was a little bundle of magic that she had somehow been lucky enough to create.

But her dreams sank as she looked, smiling, into the face of Hoshi.

A little girl, a little helpless, pink haired girl, had not been his vision. Where was his strapping ninja boy who would carry on his line and grow strong? This tiny, wrinkled thing his wife held in her arms could not possibly belong to him.

And there was worse news. No one had told Nariko yet but there had been complications from the C-section. This would be her only child.

His features were grim and as Nariko looked on in horror his expression grew darker and darker. This stupid woman had trapped him. He knew that she had been scheming all along to get him to marry her and now he stuck, not only with this bitch, but with a squalling, weak daughter and no sons to boot. He would hate her forever for torturing him this way.

As Sakura grew and her green eyes watched the events happening around her with astounding intelligence, Nariko became the barrier between Hoshi and Sakura, stepping in the harsh punishments he meted out went too far. Sakura tried to please her father with the devotion that children always feel towards their parents, but nothing seemed to make him happy.

By the time Sakura became a chuunin she had given up on ever pleasing her father. Becoming Tsunade's apprentice had given her another parent figure and a new view of life which she desperately needed. Her constant disappointment at angering her father turned to apathy as she mentally removed him from her life. His cruel words and expressions faded away until the no matter what he did it couldn't penetrate the haze surrounding her thoughts when she dealt with him. She was confident her abilities on her own and now and no longer wasted time seeking his useless approval.

Sakura approached the front door of her home with trepidation and quietly slipped in the foyer to remove her shoes. The house was quiet except for the sound of Nariko putting dinner together in the kitchen.

"Hello?" Sakura called, trying to remain nonchalant. "I'm home!" She wandered into the dining area where father was seated.

"Welcome home father. I hope that your mission went well."

His green eyes rose from the paper he was reading to narrow at her.

"It's certainly none of your business." He snapped.

"Yes father." Sakura bowed her head and went to help her mother.

"Sakura." Nariko said, "How was your day at the hospital?"

Sakura gave her mother a pleased smile. "Fine. I'm working on deciphering the components of a new poison we've encountered."

Hoshi cleared his throat nosily. "How much longer until dinner?"

Nariko paled for a moment and then answered, "Ten minutes dear."

Hoshi growled. "I've been away, working my tail off to provide for you on a month long mission and you can't even manage to have dinner ready for me in timely manner? What have you been doing with yourself all day Nariko?"

She cowered next to the stove as he turned an icy green glare at her. "I'm sorry Hoshi. If I had known that you were getting home tonight I certainly would have started dinner earlier."

"Yes. I bet looking back on it there are lots of things you would have done differently." He muttered rudely.

Sakura couldn't help tensing up when he put her mother down, but there was little she could do.

When dinner was served they sat together at the table in the kitchen, eating quietly. Hoshi glanced at Nariko.

"Did you manage to accomplish _anything_ while I was away?" he grumbled.

"I finally managed to get caught up on some of the paperwork that has been piling up. It seems like there have a lot of missions lately." Nariko was in charge of getting all the mission scrolls written up for the hokage and then filing the subsequent report when the shinobi returned.

"Paperwork, eh? Well, that was a good use of your time." Hoshi replied sarcastically. "I don't know why the village still pays you. Anyone could do that job with their hands tied behind their back. Pathetic."

Sakura's mother jerked back in her chair. She was normally used to these comments but he had been for long enough she had forgotten how awful it was when he picked on her.

"I mean really, what an absolute waste of money. And you're so stupid sometimes, Nariko. I'm sure one of the hokage's other assistants could do your job. Why don't you give it up and just quit?"

Sakura was bristling in her own chair.

Hoshi turned his attack on his daughter now. "And what about you, how many people have you killed at the hospital since I've been gone? Or are you sleeping with one of the doctors so he'll cover up your mistakes? Knowing how often you screw up you're probably sleeping with half of the staff by now. Whoring yourself out are you? Always knew you'd be nothing by trash."

Nariko gasped at his words and a hand flew to cover her mouth.

Sakura was trying to breathe evenly through her nose. _Calm down Sakura. You know what he says isn't true and he's just baiting you. Breathe._ She glared at the top of the table as she purposefully kept her gaze from Hoshi.

"What's it like, being a whore? I always wonder what they're thinking while I'm fucking them. Care to share some insight, Sakura?" Between his words and the wicked glint in Hoshi's eye, he had finally crossed the line.

Sakura's chair shoved back from the table with such force it left track marks on the floor of the kitchen. She leapt up and stared into Hoshi's hostile face.

"That's it!" she shouted. "I've put up with your crap for nineteen years now, and I'm done. I'm of age, I make a good income, and I don't have to live here anymore! You're a horrible person. You've hated me since the day I was born and you've been nothing but cruel to my mother. I could never feel as much anger toward anyone as I feel toward you. I hope you rot in hell!" Sakura leered, getting in Hoshi's face, and she watched him flinch back from her in fear with satisfaction. Her outburst over, Sakura turned and walked briskly from the kitchen.

In her bedroom she grabbed a duffel bag from under her bed. She began stuffing clothing into it, trying to calm her rage and not put a hole through the bag. Sakura didn't pack much. She figured that her mother could smuggle her a few other things a couple days.

Grabbing her weapons pack off the top of her dresser, she turned, ready to storm out the front door. She stopped short. Nariko was standing in the hall outside her bedroom.

"Sakura," she whispered quietly, pain leaking into her quiet tone. "I'm so sorry it has to be like this. Where will you go?"

"I'll stay with Ino for a few days until I find my own place. Don't worry Mom, I'm a big girl now, remember?" Sakura took a deep, shaking breath. _Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry._ "I'll be fine."

Sakura leaned over and kissed her mother's cheek. "See you in a few days, Mom." Her hands flew through the familiar seals and then Sakura had vanished in a spray of pink petals.

The night air on the street had cooled since had walked home from the hospital and the moon was about half full, its silvery light emphasizing the planes of her face. She rushed to Ino's front door. She had moved out of her parents' home three months ago and into the tiny apartment tucked in above their flower shop. It was a cozy little apartment and Sakura had spent several afternoon there, curled up on the couch Ino had purchased, gossiping about their jobs.

"Ino?" Sakura called as she knocked on the door. No answer. The kunoichi glanced up to see if there were any lights on inside, but it appeared to be dark. _Shit. Figures that the night I need her she's out somewhere or on a mission._

Sakura hitched her duffel bag up over her shoulder again and headed for the bar she and Ino liked. If the blonde ninja wasn't there then Sakura would go on to plan B. Noise spilled out the open door as she approached the establishment and two shinobi exited.

"Sakura?" One of them called.

She glanced up in surprise, not paying attention to what was going on around her.

The silver hair was unmistakable, even in the moonlight. "Kakashi-sensei." She greeted.

Kakashi's gaze ran over his student's tense form. "Are you alright?" he asked suspiciously.

Sakura glanced down at her feet for a moment and then back towards him. "Umm, yes, it's fine. I'm just looking for Ino. Do you know if she's here?"

"Haven't seen her all night. Have you seen her, Genma?"

The other shinobi shook his head.

Sakura sighed in frustration. At this rate she was going to be sleeping in a spare hospital room.

"What did you need from her?" Kakashi asked, stepping closer so that their conversation would be a little more private.

She bit her lip awkwardly. "Well, actually, I needed a place to stay for a few days and I wanted to see if I could crash on her couch. I um…sort of got in a fight with my father."

Kakashi's eye widened for a moment and then narrowed. His hands came up to grip her bare arms hard enough to leave marks. His inspected her again with more scrutiny this time. His voice was low and dangerous when he spoke. "Did he hurt you?"

She shrugged, looking down the street and not meeting his eyes. "Sakura, I asked if he hurt you?"

"If you mean do I have any bruises the answer is no." she muttered.

His sigh was long a weary. He did not want to get involved in this mess, but Sakura was hurting. If he was smart he'd tell her to simply break into Ino's apartment. He was sure the blonde wouldn't mind, after all. But, she was shaken and he knew he couldn't, in good conscience, leave her alone. His voice was louder now, carrying to where Genma was standing. "Sorry Genma, but I think I'll have to take a rain check on our plans tonight."

"No problem senpai. See you tomorrow." The jounin vanished without another word and now Kakashi turned his full attention to the distraught girl in front of him.

He scratched the back of his head uncomfortably for a moment. "Sakura, why don't you come and stay with me until we get this sorted out?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. Had super-introverted Kakashi just asked her to stay with him? "Sensei? Are you sure?"

He looked ready to rescind his invitation for a moment and then replied, "Of course I'm sure. Come on."

Kakashi turned and began walking, so after a moment's hesitation Sakura turned and followed him into the darkness.

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Okay everyone, just make sure you hit that cute review button at the bottom of the page! I have the next chapter pretty well written so hopefully there will be an update in the near future.


	2. Chapter 2

A Different Path: Chapter 2

Thanks for all the review - they're so motivating! Don't forget this story is rated M for a reason (though not so much in this chapter).

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto Itachi would be doing a stip tease in every single episode...

Kakashi's apartment was located a few blocks from the Hokage tower in a group of buildings tucked into a quieter part of town. It was older but fairly well kept up. Sakura followed him up the stairs to the third floor, half expecting him to jump to his balcony so he could climb in the window.

The stairs inside the door were wood and creaked in when she stepped on them, but Kakashi seemed to know just where to place his feet as he ascended silently in front of her. His apartment was on the third floor, the highest in this building. He gestured for her to come in once he had his door open.

She entered into the living room and noticed the green couch sitting in front of several shelves of books. There was a precisely folded beige blanket over the back of the couch and a couple of beige throw pillows that rested haphazardly on either end of it. She could see a hallway in the back of the room that she assumed led to his bedroom and bathroom. The carpet was beige and appeared fairly clean. Off to her right was a small but serviceable kitchen with a small table crammed into one corner. If Kakashi was anything like most other shinobi, he was gone so often his home was hardly lived in.

She turned to him. "Thank you for having me, sensei. I really appreciate it."

"Sakura," he began, and then seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Will you tell me what happened?"

She couldn't quite make her gaze meet his. "It was stupid, really. My mother was already jumpy and cowering when I got home, and then at dinner he said some…awful things. I won't stay in a house with him anymore. I've spent too much time trying to build up my confidence to let him treat me like that."

Kakashi nodded. He wouldn't pry anymore for now. "Well, make yourself at home. My pantry is probably a little bare, but feel free to fill it up with anything you want."

Sakura smiled tentatively up at him. "Thanks. I'll do that."

"I'll get you some blankets." He muttered, and then moved to the closet tucked back in the hallway. He tossed her a set of linens and a pillow, and then a towel. "I've got an early meeting tomorrow morning, Sakura, so I'm going to head to bed. Let me know if there's anything you need."

"Of course sensei."

Kakashi glanced over his shoulder one more time before shutting his bedroom door. He had never expected to have his student sleeping in his living room, but hopefully it wouldn't be too awkward.

He began pulling off the various layers of his uniform, stashing weapons in various places around the room. Finally, he placed his current copy of _Itcha Itcha Paradise_ on the nightstand beside his bed. The shuriken-print covers were bunched up near the bottom of the mattress and he yanked them up with a tug. He liked to be covered, totally covered, when he slept.

Kakashi rolled and turned off the light, sighed contentedly, and settled in to sleep.

He closed his eyes, but instead of the peaceful darkness and relaxation that came from having both eyes closed, he was seeing Sakura, standing in front of the bar and looking lost.

Because of her hospital schedule they hadn't been going on as many missions together as they used to. Once Naruto had, once again, left the village to fully hone his skills before becoming hokage, they had seen less of each other as there had been no real reason to keep Team Kakashi together. Naruto had been gone for a little over a year now, and Kakashi wasn't sure when he was expected back. He knew that Tsunade was preparing to step down whenever Naruto did return, however.

Shortly before her 20th birthday Sakura passed the Jounin exam. It was much different than the Chuunin exam and involved intense exercises covering leadership, strategy, ability to think on one's feet, and the development of new jutsus, and required completion of the special Chuunin kunoichi course.

Kakashi tried to steer his mind away from pondering exactly what skills Sakura had learned there.

Sakura had taken on more work at the hospital and had returned to training with Tsunade when her free time allowed it. At twenty she was practically an adult and Kakashi had been surprised that she hadn't already moved out of her parent's troubled home. Hoshi was a strict man, and on missions he could often be quite cruel. Kakashi didn't like to work with him unless it was unavoidable.

He knew who Sakura's mother, Nariko, was, as she often had a smile for him when handing out mission scrolls or filing his latest report. Neither Nariko nor Hoshi had the pink hair that Sakura had somehow managed to inherit, although Nariko's hair was a nice deep shape of red. It was obvious that her piercing green eyes had come from her father. Kakashi wondered idly how the pair had ended up together. Nariko seemed too timid for an overpowering man like Hoshi.

Kakashi had watched with mild interest over the last few years as his remaining two students continued to grow and change. Naruto had made leaps and bounds of growth in a short time, both physically and mentally, and while Sakura's were a little more subtle, he knew she had changed greatly as well. Her hair was long, half-way down her back, and kept in a tidy braid. Her pale, translucent skin never seemed to tan and her body was as lithe and slender as ever. Her body had seemed to stretch a little over time and now she was about 5'8". Her temper had calmed a little, but Kakashi still knew to avoid her fists when she was angry. Perhaps she had picked up on a few too many of Tsunade's traits.

The elite shinobi glanced at the clock on his bedside table which told him it was about one in the morning. He was listening to the quiet silence of the apartment when something caught his attention.

Someone was whimpering quietly, so quietly, that if his enhanced hearing wasn't keenly tuned into the sounds of his apartment he never would have heard it. For a moment he was confused. The only person in his apartment who spent any time whimpering was usually Pakkuun, and the pug had been safely tucked in at home with his mate the last few weeks.

Suddenly he lurched up in bed. _Sakura!_ Kakashi cursed himself.

_Sure, she's fine. Just like everyone's fine after walking out on their parents._ He grumbled. He should have realized long ago that she wasn't "fine." Sakura somehow managed to be continually fine at the exact same time she was falling apart.

He rubbed a tired hand over his eyes as he made for the door. Once in the living room he could see a lump on his couch, tucked under the layers of blankets he had tossed out there.

The lump was shaking.

_Ah, hell. What am I supposed to do with her now?_

"Sakura," he whispered. He tried to settle his weight on a tiny sliver of couch so as not to invade her space. "Sakura, are you alright?"

His hand came up instinctively, but he hesitated before he touched her. Kakashi didn't like touching people, and with the exception of the occasional hair fluff he never touched his female student. Maybe he should let her just work through her emotions on her own – but if he did that there would be no sleep for him tonight. His keen hearing could detect the whimpers a little too well. Grumbling, his hand came to rest on her shoulder. With his simple touch the shaking seemed to ease a little.

"Go away." came a tired voice from under the covers.

"Sakura, you're shaking. I'm not going anywhere."

"I don't want you to see me like this!" the voice bit back.

"See you like what, all I can see right now is big lump of blankets and some hair."

This time there was a snort from under the covers.

A few strands of Sakura's pink hair drifted across Kakashi's hand where it rested on her shoulder. They were soft and silky smooth on his skin and he couldn't resist reaching up to where her hair pooled as it spilled out of an invisible crevice in her blanket fort. He brushed is fingers down the length of the pink strands, and then repeated the motion as her trembling eased even more.

"When I was little my mom always used to play with my hair. That feels nice." Sakura whispered to him in the dark.

The gentle stroking continued and slowly began to lull Sakura into relaxation. A fine trembling still shook her body, but it was getting better. Trying to get more comfortable on the couch, Kakashi scooted Sakura closer to one end and then leaned back against the upholstery. He grabbed hold of Sakura and tugged until her head was resting on his thigh, and then he continued running his hands through her hair.

Sakura wanted to protest when she felt Kakashi moving her, and the urge got even stronger when she realized that she was now resting on his _thigh_ of all places, but as his hand continued to stroke her hair and the warmth from his body seeped into her, she relaxed.

"Mmmm." She mumbled as her eyes fluttered closed.

Sakura was half asleep, no longer aware of her surroundings as she whispered, "Don't go, Kakashi."

* * *

The next morning Sakura awoke with a sore neck. She'd had a pillow last night…hadn't she? The kunoichi placed a couple fingers on her neck and let her gentle chakra ease away the tension left there. As she glanced around the apartment in the morning light she could see that it was clean and organized. The sunlight was coming through the glass door that led out onto Kakashi's balcony.

_I wonder where Kakashi is this morning?_

Sakura stood and stretched, letting the blanket fall to the surface of couch. There was a slip of paper on the dining room table a few feet away and she wandered over. Perhaps he'd left her note.

_Sakura,_

_I hope you slept well and that the couch was comfortable. I'm off to my meeting and will probably be working at jounin headquarters for most of the day. Here's a key for you so you may come and go as you please. See you tonight._

_Kakashi _

Sakura picked up the small brass key and placed it with her medic pack for the hospital. So…Kakashi was gone, and she was in his apartment. Alone.

A wicked grin twisted her features. Surely her sensei wouldn't mind if she looked around for a little while.

She stopped in the bathroom to freshen up for a moment. After splashing some water on her face she reached for the hand towel hanging nearby to dry her skin. It smelled like Kakashi – pine, musk, and a hint of wet dog. She ran her hands over his few simple toiletries. A razor – _why bother? No one sees his face anyway!_ Sakura smirked. Shaving cream, soap, a few bottles of various pain relievers, deodorant, and some shampoo made up the rest.

_Simplicity at its finest_, she observed.

Next, she turned to his room. Sakura pushed the door open gently with her toe and slipped inside.

He hadn't bothered to fully make his bed. Instead the covers were yanked up haphazardly and there were several lumps under the covers where the sheets hadn't been pulled straight. There was a dresser and a small closet where multiples of the standard jounin uniform were hung neatly. There was a large pack of ninja weapons on top of his dresser, and a few pictures were scattered across the window sill. One of Team 7 when they had been genin and another that must have been Kakashi's genin team. In it he wore his mask, but both eyes were the same dark gray color, and he had no scar. Minato, the fourth hokage, stood behind the group, looking proud.

Sakura opened the top dresser drawer, fully expecting to find underwear and socks. She got a shock at what lie there instead. Black, slinky fabric that she new from one touch would be impervious to the elements. She carefully lifted the black tank top out to see vaguely familiar white body armor resting underneath. Kakashi's ANBU uniform.

She knew that at one point Kakashi had been one of the most lethal ANBU members. A captain at a young age, the stories of his days as an elite assassin were legendary. Sakura touched the armor reverently. This was a part of Kakashi that she rarely saw. The deadly skills were usually hidden under his mask of laziness and apathy.

Suddenly feeling like she might be getting in over her head, Sakura shut the drawer and went to start her day. Storming out of her house in a fit of rage the night before did not get her out of work at the hospital.

Sakura had reported to Tsunade's office first to discuss her progress with the poison. Nariko had not arrived at work yet, but that was not unusual. Sakura made a mental note to check in with her, on the first floor of the building in the records department, before she buried herself in the lab all day.

Her conversation with the hokage was brief and soon she poking her head into her mother's office.

"Mom?" called Sakura.

Silence greeted her.

"Mom?!" Sakura called again. _Where is she? She's always here by now!_

Sakura was just beginning to panic when a voice came from behind her.

"Sweetie?"

"Mom!" Sakura's shoulders slumped with relief. "I was worried when you weren't here."

Nariko smiled. "I just went to get some coffee."

Sakura smiled in return and began covertly looking over her mother for signs of bruising. "Ummm, I was hoping I could talk to you about working out some time for me to get the rest of my stuff?"

"Sure." Nariko looked down. "I need a few days to see if you're father is going to be staying in town long, and if he is, what his schedule will look like."

"Of course." Sakura had yet to spot any bruises, but she could tell that her mother seemed to be favoring her side a little. Hoshi was always careful to aim for places that couldn't be seen. "There's really no hurry. I haven't had time to look for an apartment yet. Hopefully I'll have that aspect of things settled by this weekend."

"How's Ino?"

_Uh oh. _No way was Sakura going to tell her mother that after she hadn't been able to find Ino she had simply crashed with Kakashi-sensei instead. Sakura mentally calculated the chances of her mother running into Ino anytime soon and then decided to go for it anyway.

"Um, she's great. She's heading out on a mission soon, so she was pretty busy last night."

Nariko smiled warmly up at Sakura. "I'm glad you have such good friends sweetie."

"Me too Mom. Well, I have to get down to the lab, but I'll stop by tomorrow to chat with you sometime."

"Bye Sakura." Nariko called after her daughter.

The poisons lab was located in the basement of the hospital and there were always some interesting smells emanating from it. Sakura scrunched up her nose at the offending scent of organic solvents and headed inside. She grabbed a lab coat off the back of a hook by the door and gathered the scroll containing her notes.

The floor was made of cement and the walls were panted a pale, sterile white. There were new, fancy instruments available for determining what compounds were made of, but Tsunade didn't trust their accuracy, so they did it the old fashioned way. It would take Sakura hours of boiling, precipitating, and separating the different ingredients before she could even begin to determine what they were.

She shuddered as she thought of the shinobi this sample had come from. He had been brought to the hospital by his teammates, but it was already too late. The poison had rapidly and effectively started shutting down his chakra paths as soon as it came in contact with them. Most poisons acted on an organ in the body, but this one was specifically geared toward killing shinobi.

When interviewed, the ninja's teammates had said they'd seen him get hit with a few senbon, but didn't think anything of it until the man started screaming. When he collapsed on the ground the other team members had grabbed him and beat a hasty retreat back to Konoha.

Recently a plethora of poisoned kunais had showed up in various enemy village hands. The poison was deadly and worked by first cutting the receiver off from their own chakra supply and then it slowly paralyzed the person until they could no longer make their lungs move to breathe. It was a slow, agonizing, and horrific way to die.

To lose the ability to feel your chakra…For the pink-haired medic her chakra was like second sight. To be suddenly blinded would be terrifying.

Sakura's eyes narrowed and she got down to business. They would find out what was in this stuff and develop an antidote.

By the time she had given up for the day her neck ached even worse and her eyes were stinging from whatever she had managed to boil off the top of the sample. She squinted as she exited the hospital and the last rays of fading sunlight hit her face. She'd hardly had time to give finding an apartment a second thought.

_I guess Kakashi's couch and I are going to get to know each other a little better._ Sakura sighed. Kakashi was friendly of course, and has always done his best to reassure her when she was younger, but something about him was always a little distant. She had wondered as a genin sometimes if he was even aware of her struggle to keep up with her two prodigy teammates. She was no match, even now, for Naruto the future hokage, or Sasuke the lone Uchiha and traitor to the village. After she had started training with Tsunade, Sakura had slowly come to realize that she didn't actually need Kakashi's approval, but that she wanted it desperately. She was used to pleasing the people around her and she continued to feel like she had failed with her sensei.

She strolled down the street at a leisurely pace, trying to drain the stress from being hunched over her work all day from her shoulders.

She reached Kakashi's apartment a few minutes later and knocked hesitantly on the door. He had given her a key, but she still felt strange about barging inside. She waited a few moments for him to answer, but when he didn't come she slipped her key into the lock and ventured inside.

The apartment was quiet and she knew immediately that he wasn't here. She wandered toward the couch, wonder what she should do with herself now, when she realized that a new note was waiting for her on the table.

_Sakura,_

_I'm headed out on a short mission. I'll be back late tonight, so don't worry about waiting on me for dinner. Make yourself comfy. _

_Kakashi_

Sakura decided to enjoy the evening to herself and headed into the kitchen to make dinner. She was exhausted, and after her poor sleep the night before she couldn't wait to curl up and sleep.

* * *

Kakashi sniffed. Blood. How was it that he always managed to end up smelling like blood, no matter how quick the kill was?

His assassination mission had been satisfyingly short. An under lord a few villages away had gotten a little loose with his information giving, and so he had now been silenced forever. The kill should have been fast and neat but some people just moved more than others after their throats had been slit.

He desperately needed to clean up. His hair had caught some of the spray and was matted down, and he could feel the cool wetness soaking into his shirt. Luckily, _Itcha Itcha _hadn't been hit, although, he surmised, several of his books had acquired multiple stains and tears after being read so many times, so it wouldn't be the first mark on the book.

Kakashi slipped in the front door and into the living room. His home was dark and he focused carefully, looking for a lump on the couch. He could barely make out the outline of Sakura's body, curled into a ball and nestled under the blankets. He made for the bathroom as quietly as possible, hoping not to wake her.

However, he couldn't quite keep his composure when he stubbed his toe on the leg of the kitchen table.

"Oww! Shit!" Some stealth ninja he was.

The pink lump on the couch stirred. Kakashi's eye widened.

"Kaka-sensei? Is that you?" came the sleepy voice.

"Just me Sakura. Uhh, go back to sleep." He whispered urgently. He did not want to try and explain that despite the large amount of blood dripping off his clothes he was uninjured.

Unfortunately, the tired kunoichi was already struggling to sit up. She blinked at him, rubbed her eyes, and then stared at him in shock.

"Kakashi! Are you hurt? You're covered in blood!" She was off the couch in an instant, suddenly wide awake with adrenaline coursing through her.

Before he cold protest Sakura was dragging him into the bathroom and flipping on the light.

"Ahh, Sakura, jeez that's bright!"

"Sit." She commanded, shoving him down on top of the toilet seat. She produced a kunai from somewhere and was about to start slicing his clothes off when he finally managed to catch her attention.

"Sakura, Sakura! Wait! I'm fine." He hollered.

She glared at him suspiciously. "Fine? You don't look fine sensei."

"None of this blood is mine."

Her eyes narrowed. "None of it?"

"No! I just need to clean up."

She wasn't going for it. Kakashi cursed himself for avoiding the hospital all those times. None of the medics ever took him at his word now when he said he wasn't hurt.

He gave in. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. If you let me wash this blood off and get into dry clothes I promise I'll sit still and let you examine me."

Sakura's face twisted with a satisfied smile. "I'll be waiting." She replied primly, and went to sit on the couch to give him some privacy.

A few minutes later Kakashi emerged, steam flooding into the room from the heat of the shower. He'd changed into black sweatpants and a sleeveless tank with his mask. Without saying a word to Sakura, who was looking pointedly at one of the dining room chairs, he sat down with a huff.

The exam was thorough but fairly quick, and Kakashi had to admit that he didn't really mind the sensation of Sakura's fingers running over his skin.

He was warm to her touch and Sakura mentally ticked through the list of body systems as she checked him over. When she lifted the back of his shirt to listen to his lungs she paused for a moment. The muscles in his back were tense with anxiety. When she touched him he almost flinched at the sensation.

She leaned forward to speak, her breath moving the sensitive hair on the back of his neck.

"Relax Sensei. I promise I'm not going to poke you with anything sharp. Just breathe nice and deep while I listen to your lungs."

Kakashi's heartbeat accelerated and he tried to hold still while her cool fingers played over his shoulders. The tingle of her medical chakra seemed like a gentle, tickling breeze under his skin. It wasn't unpleasant but he still hated the sensation of being invaded.

Sakura could smell the clean pine scent emanating off his skin after his shower, but underneath it all she could still detect the faint, coppery scent of blood. The skin of his shoulders was surprisingly smooth. He had one scar that trailed from the top of one shoulder to a few inches above the shoulder blade that looked like it had resulted from a kunai slice. This was not the first time Sakura had to examine Kakashi, but looking at his scars was making her realize how much his life she knew nothing about. She had only learned a few months ago about his troubled childhood because she had begged the information out of Tsunade.

Shee was done with him a few minutes later and as Sakura moved back to the couch she realized that her pulse was racing. Kakashi scurried back to his room with relief, glad to be free. "Good night, Sakura."

"Good night, sensei."

* * *

Now if you'll just proceed to that nice white and green at the bottom of the page!

I'm in at a hospital in the middle of no-where on my last clinical rotation with NOTHING to do, so hopefuly the update will happen quickly. However, my evil mentor keeps muttering about me doing a presentation next week...


	3. Chapter 3

I was hoping to have this out on Wednesday but with graduation coming up and TWO evil presentations I just couldn't get to it. Hopefully I will have some extra time in the evenings this next week so I can get an update out to you a little sooner. Thanks to all my reviewers, I really appreciate your feedback!

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto we'd be past this darn crystal user filler crap!

A Different Path: Chapter 3

Sakura was getting tired of sleeping on Kakashi's couch. She'd been there for almost a week now and every morning she woke up stiff in a new place. She'd hardly seen Kakashi since the night he came back covered in blood. For a ninja who was perpetually lazy, late, and had his nose stuck in a book, he was suspiciously absent from his apartment most of the time.

Sakura had made progress towards finding a place to live – if one counted progress as ruling out five different apartments that were managed by men who couldn't seem to keep their hands to themselves. It was Saturday now and she had a rare day off.

The day had dawned bright and cheerful. Konoha had made it through the worst of the winter months and spring was just starting. It was Sakura's favorite time of year. Something in the air on the bright spring days spoke to her about new life, and new motivation.

She stretched cautiously, noting the latest sore spot on her back. Getting up carefully, Sakura stumbled towards the bathroom. Kakashi's door was shut and she assumed that he was still sleeping. When she flipped on the light over the sink she blinked at herself in the mirror. There were dark circles under her eyes and her cheeks appeared almost gaunt.

_Good grief. I thought I was getting enough sleep to avoid looking like a freak_, she thought to herself before cranking on the water for the shower.

In addition to sleeping on the couch, Sakura was also getting tired of having minimal clothes and cosmetics. She was supposed to meet her mother for tea in a little while, and Sakura desperately hoped that her mother would have thought to smuggle a few things out of the house for her.

The water coming out of the faucet was warm and it did a minor job of soothing the aches and pains she seemed to keep acquiring. She let it cascade down over the top her head and let it run where it might until her hair was hanging in her face and she had to breathe with her mouth open. She kept her eyes closed, feeling the warm rush of water, and then finally tossed her head back to get the hair off her face. It was time to get going for the day.

Sakura was reaching for her conditioner, almost at the end of her shower routine, when the water suddenly ran ice cold.

"Eeep!" she shrieked, leaping out of the shower and landing, dripping, on the rug beside the basin. There had not been the steady decline in water temperature that indicated she was draining the hot water heater, it had just cut off suddenly instead.

If there was one thing in the world that Sakura held dear, it was her nice, warm, morning shower. Her hopeful mood evaporated. Her shower was ruined, and here she was, standing in the bathroom with a hastily grabbed towel around her shoulders, shivering.

The sound of a pot clanking in the kitchen caught her attention. Apparently Kakashi was awake.

_Apparently he's managed to mess up my shower. _Sakura briefly considered turning the water back on and praying that it would be warm, but the overwhelming need to make someone pay for ruining her shower overrode that notion as her vision suddenly turned red around the edges.

Sakura yanked the towel off her shoulders and wrapped it securely around her torso, tucking one end in to keep it in place. She stalked toward the door with enough force that the floor shook.

The sunlight had woken Kakashi as it slanted across his face. It was pleasantly warm for a few minutes and then had become unbearably hot. He was contemplating rolling over and trying to sleep longer, or grabbing his book off the nightstand and using that to block out the light, but at that moment his stomach rumbled loudly.

Come to think of it, there was some miso soup stashed in his fridge. Maybe he'd heat up some for breakfast.

Kakashi rolled out of bed, grabbed a tank top and some sweats, and wandered into the kitchen. The shower was running and he figured Sakura had started her morning routine of primping. After a moment of scrounging he found the miso soup stashed in a drawer of the fridge. He opened the container cautiously, sniffing, to make sure it was still good. It smelled normal and didn't appear to have anything growing on the top of it.

Next he reached for the pot soaking in the sink. His dishes were limited, so it would have to be washed before he dumped the soup in to heat. Kakashi hated washing dishes.

With a sigh he flipped on the faucet, turning the water all the way to hot. The pot was filling nicely with bubbly water when the door to the bathroom flew open with a bang.

He jerked back when a nearly naked Sakura stomped out of the bathroom.

"Sensei…" she growled.

"Uhh, Sakura. Good morning. Did you sleep well? I was just about to heat up some soup if you want some…Sakura?" Kakashi babbled as Sakura moved toward him like a wolf intent on its kill.

Her green eyes glared at him as she slammed her hand down on the kitchen faucet.

"You ruined my shower! You just couldn't wait another couple minutes, no, you had to go and wash dishes at 8AM on a Saturday morning. Who the hell does that? How could you be so inconsiderate and not realize that you would be pelting me with freezing cold water?!"

Kakashi nonchalantly scratched the back of his head as Sakura continued her tirade, trying not to let his eyes wander over her towel clad figure.

He was expecting the fist that came flying towards his face when she finally boiled over.

Sakura hadn't meant to get quite so worked up, but she just couldn't help it. She'd been sleeping on an old sagging couch all week long in a strange house while suffering from stress at work because Tsunade was putting on serious pressure to determine the ingredients of the poison, and to top it off there was the emotional turmoil of moving out of the home she had lived in since she was a child.

For a moment she forgot who she was dealing with and her arm moved of its own accord. However, when Kakashi easily closed his palm around her fist to block her strike she drew up short.

Her eyes peeked up at her sensei from under her lashes.

He was gazing down at her with a superior, knowing, expression that only teachers and parents seem to possess, and guilt suddenly washed over her.

"Oh, sorry, Kakashi-sensei. I didn't mean to get so upset. You've been really great, taking me in like this, and it wasn't very nice of me to try to punch you," she admitted softly.

As easygoing as ever, he smiled back at her. "It's alright. Just try to control your temper a little better next time, ne?"

Sakura nodded and slunk back to the bathroom, embarrassed, with her hands clutching the edges of the towel.

* * *

The bell over the door of the tea house Nariko preferred jingled softly as Sakura entered. It was warm inside and Sakura sniffed at the heavenly scent of tea, cinnamon, and dango that hung in the air. There were low tables made of dark wood situated around the room with cushions in varying bright colors placed next to them. To Sakura, it had always embodied her idea of a tea shop. The waitresses were dressed primly in simple kimonos and the tea was presented in beautiful, ornate tea pots.

Rice paper that was delicately painted with a design of flowing cherry blossoms was stretched across the sliding window screens. In the summer the screens were pushed apart to let in the fresh air, but for now it remained just a little too chilly, and so they were closed.

Sakura spotted Nariko sitting primly at one of the tables near a window that overlooked the river. She already had a steaming teapot sitting in front her and she had her eyes closed in bliss as she sipped her tea. When she caught site of her daughter heading in her direction, she smiled.

"Sorry for running late Mom, I got stuck with a cold shower this morning." Sakura grimaced at the memory of the ice cold fluid.

Nariko's lips twisted into a full blown grin as she poured a second cup of tea from the pot and handed it to Sakura. "You mean someone actually ran you out of hot water instead of the other way around? That's a first."

Sakura hung her head sheepishly for a moment. "I suppose you're right."

"So, what are your plans for the day?" asked Nariko.

"Um, I haven't figured them all out yet, actually. Probably more apartment shopping and maybe some training later. I'm tired of sleeping on the couch."

"What would you say to spending a little time with your mother?"

Sakura's expression turned from contemplative to excited. "Sure Mom. That sounds wonderful." It seemed like forever since their last mother-daughter day. Hoshi had managed to ruin the majority of their latest attempts.

_Speaking of Hoshi_…"Um, Mom, is father still in town?" she asked politely. She couldn't imagine that her mother would even be out of the house if he was.

Now it was Nariko's turn to look embarrassed. "No. He left on a mission yesterday."

Sakura tried to stifle the surge of vengeful pleasure that raced through her at the knowledge that Hoshi was gone, but she was sure some it still flickered across her face. Maybe she could finally pick up more of her stuff. Now if only she had a place to put it…

Her mother looked mildly disapproving for a moment. "Sakura, he does love you, he just doesn't always say the best things."

Sakura looked at her mother with distaste. "Mom, he's a horrible person, and I'm worried about you being alone at the house with him. He might try to hurt you."

_In fact, I already know that he does._

"Oh nonsense, sweetie. Your father just knows how he wants his house to be run."

Sakura sighed in defeat. She had tried desperately to lead her mother in the right direction – away from Hoshi – but there was no getting through to her.

Nariko smiled and changed the subject before Sakura's fiery temper could make an appearance. "I have a surprise for you. Would you like to go see it?"

"A surprise?" Sakura was curious. Surprises for her were few and far between, and they usually involved a visit from Hoshi.

"Come on!" Sakura's mother plunked a few coins down on their table for the tea and pulled her up off the floor.

Outside the air had warmed from earlier and it was now nice and sunny. Nariko was hastily leading Sakura in the general direction of the hospital. They passed several other villagers who were outside at the market and enjoying the early spring day. Many nodded in greeting and Nariko smiled back as she continued to tug her daughter along behind her.

Sakura drew up short for a moment, looking puzzled, when her mother turned abruptly and went into an apartment building two blocks from the hospital. Pausing for a moment to orient herself, she dashed after Nariko. Her mother was already on the second flight of stairs.

_Sheesh. Where did all this energy suddenly come from?_

In a flash Sakura had joined her on the landing of the third story and followed right behind Nariko as she opened the door to one of the apartments.

There were several windows that looked out onto the street, and the midday sun was streaming inside. The walls were white and the floors were wood, a warm oak. They had entered into what appeared to be the living room, although with no furniture it was a little hard to tell. There was a small kitchen with a high counter and a spot for bar stools on one side and just enough space to put a small table.

A hallway was off to her right and Nariko pulled her that direction.

"Come and see, Sakura!"

One door revealed a small linen closet and another opened into a bathroom with the same oak floors. At the end of the hall there was a sliding screen, and when Sakura pushed it to one side she walked into the room and stared in wonder.

Windows went from waist high to the ceiling all the way around the two outside walls. There were several hooks near the glass that Sakura recognized as plant hooks. From the windows she could see the hokage monument in the distance. The bedroom had the same cheery feel as the rest of the apartment. There was another screen to her right and she slid that across to reveal a medium sized closet with plenty of shelves and hanging space. Bamboo blinds were hung across the tops of the windows so that at night any offending light from the street could be shut out. The room was empty now, but Sakura could almost picture what it would look like with furniture.

Sakura sighed with pleasure.

"Mom, this is beautiful, but I don't really understand what we're doing here."

"Well, sweetie, one of the other girls in the records department is getting married and needs to sublease her apartment until her lease runs out. She mentioned it to me, and I told her I might know someone who'd be interested…"

"Oh Mom, really? This could be my apartment?" Sakura's hopes leaped. It was so close to the hospital, and bright and cheerful – not like most of the apartments in town that were practically dungeons. And here she wouldn't be dealing with the riffraff that usually frequented apartments.

_I can't believe I could actually be living here! But…this has to be expensive. _

"Umm, do you know how much rent is?"

Sakura's mother smiled smugly. "500 a month."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "No way, not possible," she hesitated for a moment, "Does the landlord demand sexual favors as part of the rent?"

"Sakura! Do you think I would you live somewhere that required promiscuity simply to pay the rent?"

Sakura shrugged. "Seemed like a common bargaining chip at most of the other places I've looked into."

Nariko frowned for a moment and then brightened. "So, you think this will work out for you?"

"Oh Mom, absolutely. This is incredible. I…I can't tell you how much it means to me that your found this place for me." The young kunoichi looked at the ground for a moment and then forced herself to meet her mother's gaze. "I'm sure it's not easy having me be gone so suddenly."

"To be honest with you sweetie, it is a little strange not to have you puttering around the house, but I've been waiting for this to happen for almost a year now. I realized it was only a matter of time As long as you agree to meet me for tea once a week – mission weeks excepted of course – I promise not to have a meltdown."

Sakura smiled. "I think I can make a once-a-week tea date."

"Excellent. Now, since it's only about noon, what do you say we go home and pack up some of your stuff…seeing of course how I already signed the lease for you."

The medic's mouth fell open. "Already…signed…the…lease?" she confirmed faintly.

"It's all yours now. Don't you want to get some stuff in it?"

All Sakura could do was nod in shock as she followed her mother blindly from the room and back towards her old home.

* * *

That evening Sakura stood in the living room of her new apartment and scratched her head with frustration. She was having a hard time comprehending the fact that even though her stuff was flowing across the floor from multiple boxes, she really had very few items of actual importance or substance. Sure, there were some keepsake things that she kept, but damned if among all the boxes of photos there was a single cup.

She'd have to pay a visit to the market tomorrow, not to mention looking for furniture. For now it would be another night on Kakashi's couch.

She wandered into the bedroom, which so far had managed to remain uncluttered as she'd dug frantically through boxes in the living room in search of basic living necessities. The light was slowly fading from the sky and the evening lights of Konoha were becoming visible against the backdrop of night. Sakura moved to the window and rested her forehead on the glass as she watched the darkness approach.

She was tired. All the excitement of the day had worn her out, not to mention the poor night's sleep she'd had the evening before.

She was determined that tomorrow she would buy a bed.

And a cup, for god's sake.

When the last rays of sunlight were no longer visible the kunoichi heaved a sigh and turned away. She figured that she would stop and get some dinner, maybe at Ichiraku's, and then head to Kakashi's for the night.

She lingered a few moments longer in the apartment – in _her_ apartment – and then headed for the door. When it was securely locked behind her she headed down the steps and out into the evening.

The village was still bustling with activity as people enjoyed the weekend and Sakura passed several familiar faces on her way to the popular ramen stand. The smells wafting out from various restaurants made her mouth water and she was just realizing how hungry she truly was. She couldn't wait to get to Ichiraku's.

When she arrived she spied two butts sitting side by side on stools that, by the way they were dressed, belonged to a couple of jounin. Perhaps she would have some company for dinner. And if they were jounin who she didn't usually have much contact with…well, at least they had cute butts.

Sakura was giggling to herself when she ducked inside, but her mirth came to an abrupt halt when she saw who was sitting there.

Kakashi, and next to him was…

Shikamaru.

Kakashi glanced up to see who had entered the ramen stand.

"Yo, Sakura. Going to join us for dinner?" he gazed at her curiously, noting her pink cheeks and the way she was studiously avoiding looking at Shikamaru for any length of time.

"Uhm, yeah, dinner. Uh-uh. That's what I'm here for." Sakura could feel her face burning all the way up to the tops of her ears. She shook her head to clear out the shock of suddenly seeing the lazy strategist. Before she could say anything else to embarrass herself, she plunked down on the stool next to Kakashi.

"Miso ramen with pork, please." She muttered to Ichiraku.

"So, what have you been up to today?" Shikamaru asked from the other side of Kakashi.

"Ahhh, I found an apartment to move into. My mom found it for me, actually."

"Does that mean you're not going to be sleeping on my couch anymore?" Kakashi questioned. The medic saw Shikamaru's confused look out of the corner of her eye.

Sakura wished that she could put her face into her ramen and drown. "Uh, as soon as I find a bed anyway. Moving stuff out of my mom's house made me realize that I don't have anything normal that you actually need to live."

Shikamaru spoke up with a frown. "I didn't know you were moving out, Sakura. When did that happen?"

"Earlier this week. My…dad…came home." Shikamaru nodded with quiet understanding.

"Are you okay?" he asked her softly.

Her green eyes flicked up to meet his for a brief second. "Yes, um, I'm fine. He just said some things that really upset me. Luckily I ran into Kakashi-sensei after I left and he offered me the use of his couch until I could get settled in somewhere else."

"Ahh," was all the reply she got from Shikamaru. Sakura had confided in him before about her father and he had a very educated guess as to what had gone done. In reality, he figured that Hiashi was probably lucky to have escaped with minimal damange.

Sakura realized that, considering their…history, she could have probably crashed with Shikamaru, but she wasn't quite sure where they stood on things at the moment.

For a moment her thoughts flickered back to a couple months before the jounin exam.

Chunin kunoichi classes.

She had known the moment she and Ino arrived for the first day of lessons that this would be _nothing _like the classes they had taken at the academy.

The classroom was located in the basement of the hokage building and was dark with no windows. When Kurenai had begun addressing the class as to the additional responsibilities of kunoichi, Sakura had nearly fallen out of her chair. They had lesson after lesson about the art of being female and using your abilities to slip through traps either unnoticed or underestimated simply because men viewed you as sex object.

At the completion of the course Sakura had come away with a very nasty taste in her mouth regarding men and the whole process of falling in love and procreating. Those feelings paired with what she had already observed at home led her to believe that her virginity would be best dealt with as swiftly and painlessly as possible.

She and Ino had hit the bar that night dressed to kill with one simple purpose in mind. Find a suitable man to help them overcome the awkward shyness of the first time. By the time Sakura had finished her fourth margarita she was feeling warm and tingly, and even though a tiny voice in the back of her mind shrieked about what she was planning, it was easily silenced. Coincidentally, Shikamaru had happened to end up next to the pink-haired girl at the bar.

He had just returned from a mission and was looking to relax a little. His uniform was clinging to his body under the jounin vest and Sakura ogled the small glimpses she got of his tight muscles as he moved. Shikamaru had been in search of Choji, who had yet to arrive, when he spotted Sakura.

He was his usually friendly and somewhat aloof self, but after all the tequila she had consumed, it seemed almost natural to Sakura to flirt and place a teasing hand on his shoulder, moves she never would have considered before. One of the other rookie nine who happened to be clustered around the bar at that moment suggested doing a few shots, and soon enough Shikamaru was nearly as drunk as Sakura.

Sakura was so tipsy she was leaning over from her barstool to rest against Shikamaru's shoulder. His hand was resting reassuringly on her knee, and when he whispered in her ear in made her stomach tingle. She'd had enough liquid courage that she was only mildly nervous about leaning over and whispering in Shikamaru's ear.

"Would you maybe like to go somewhere…a little quieter?" She giggled to herself at the clichéd line, but it did the trick when Shikamaru turned to her with a slightly hazy gaze and nodded.

Sakura stood up on wobbly feet and tugged the strategist with her. Before long they were out the door and headed into the night.

After that, things had become a little awkward. They were friends, even close enough for Sakura to confide in Shikamaru from time to time, but friends who had sex seemed to be an odd way to classify a relationship. Aside from missions together they hadn't a lot of time together since, and Sakura had become more heavily involved at the hospital and she figured that Shikamaru had deemed her "too troublesome to mess with."

And now he was looking at her accusingly, and she figured before the night was out she'd have spilled the entire story of running out of her parents' home a few nights ago.

Kakashi's concealed glance was flickering back and forth between the two. The tension between them was making him uncomfortable in turn. With a swift movement he reached for his ramen and drained the bowl in one giant slurp. When he had savored the last few drops of the delicious broth he slouched in his chair for another moment and then was getting up.

"I have some paperwork to take care of, so I'll see you whenever you get back Sakura. Ja ne!"

Before she could protest Kakashi was gone.

And she was alone with Shikamaru.

* * *

Thanks for reading...the plot should be moving along quite well in the next chapter if you're wondering when its going to start heading in a certain direction! All you need to do is click that little review button at the bottom of the page!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Sasuke would have gotten his ass kicked by now...

A Different Path: Chapter 4

To prevent the development of an awkward silence Sakura launched into conversation.

"So, how have you been?" she asked Shikamaru.

"Fine." He considered telling her about the problems he had encountered on his most recent mission, but it seemed too troublesome to relive those events.

"So…you're moving out of your parents' house?" he questioned softly.

Sakura was staring at the counter top as she answered. "Yeah. Hoshi told me I was a whore and I finally lost it. It was either pack my bags or punch him in the face. Kakashi was nice enough to take me in for last week, but my mom found an awesome apartment for me today, so now I just need to move in. Speaking of which, do you know if Ino is back in town? I was going to see if she could help me move."

"Uh, I think she got back yesterday." He replied.

"I guess I'll stop by her house later and see."

Sakura turned to poke at the noodles in front of her. Butterflies seemed to be zooming around her stomach in a chaotic pattern and she just wasn't quite sure what to say to the jounin sitting next to her.

She finally decided it would best to hurry up and get out of there, so she wolfed down the rest of her noodles and was preparing to leave when Shikamaru touched her arm.

"Ah, Sakura, I know things have been a little weird between us for a while now…" he trailed off momentarily as Sakura blushed bright pink and started chewing her bottom lip.

"Um, just let me know if you need anything, ok?" he finally finished.

She managed a brief smile back at him. "Thanks, Shikamaru. Listen, I've gotta run, but I'll see you sometime, ok?"

"Yeah. Bye."

Sakura fled the ramen stand and was down the street before the words had even finished reaching her ears. She had thought that losing her virginity would make her feel more womanly and grown up, but for some reason all it had done was make her feel embarrassed and inadequate.

* * *

Sakura was tucked into her makeshift bed on Kakashi's couch, just on the verge of sleep when the knocking started. She rolled over groggily and tried it to ignore the sound, but she couldn't quite block it out.

If whoever it was wanted to hang out with Kakashi, they'd be meeting her angry fist instead.

She pulled herself up and stumbled toward the entry, tripping over the boots she had placed there earlier. Finally reaching the door, she yanked it open and blinked at the sudden bright light coming into the apartment from out in the hallway.

A young medic, still in training, stood waiting.

"Sukari? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked. She was still dreadfully tired, but the beginnings of an adrenaline rush were starting to seep into her veins.

"There's an emergency at the hospital. Tsunade sent me to get you – she needs you right away."

Sakura was suddenly wide awake. "Just let me get my boots. Come in and tell me what you know while I get them on."

The genin followed her into the apartment and Sakura sat on the floor to start tugging on her boots.

"Team 14 just came in. They were on a C-ranked mission but they ran into a bunch of nin from Sound. Nari got struck in the shoulder with a kunai and suddenly she started screaming about not feeling her chakra. Everything in her body is shutting down."

By this time Sakura had her boots on and was ready to run out the door when Kakashi's voice caught her.

"Sakura, everything alright?"

She glanced back to see him standing in the doorway of his bedroom, blinking sleepily and rubbing his hand across his masked face. "Yes, sensei. I just have to run to the hospital."

His voice was somber as he replied, "Good luck." She noted that his gaze softened slightly for a moment as he spoke, but then she was running out the door behind Sukari.

Nari was just a genin, but she was showing a lot of promise. She had spoken with Team 14 several times when they were in Tsunade's office, and she admired the work that Nari put in to try and keep up with her two male teammates.

She reminded Sakura of herself when she was young.

And now, if she didn't hurry, the young girl would be dead.

The hospital emergency room was in chaos when she arrived. Someone from the blood bank had just gone crashing through the doors into the operating room with two bags of blood in hand and it looked like a new nurse had just gone in to relieve one of the earlier helpers.

Sakura didn't waste any time getting involved.

The foray during medical emergencies never seemed to astound Sakura. Sure, everyone wanted to help, but was it really necessary to try and fit twenty people into the already cramped operating room?

She could see Tsunade leaning over the young girl and concentrating. Shizune was aiding her, but the dark haired women looked exhausted. When her dark brown eyes met Sakura's green pair, they widened in relief.

"Over here Sakura, see if you help Tsunade trace the poison."

A path cleared rapidly as people got out of her way, and when she reached her shishou's side, the hokage began speaking rapidly.

"The poison was on the kunai that cut her shoulder. I can feel the point of entry, but for some reason I can't seem to separate what's blood and what's poison. See if you have any better luck tracking it through her system."

Sakura let a careful tendril of chakra drift from her hands and into the girl's body. As she traced through the hundreds of tiny blood vessels the world seemed to fade around her.

_Left arm – no, other than the cut I can't even tell anything is wrong in her blood, just that the chakra paths are shut down._

_Tracing across the collarbone to the right arm – no, nothing out of place here either. _

_Moving back to follow the carotid artery – all vessels in the brain seem to be clear as well. _

_Damn it! Where the hell does this stuff disappear to?_

With dwindling hope Sakura finished following the blood's path, from the heart all the way down to the feet and back up to the lungs. She was just about to tell Tsunade that she couldn't find the poison to extract, either, when she heard a sickening sound.

Nari was starting to wheeze.

Her small hand reached out for Sakura's as she gasped, "I can't move my legs!"

Sakura's jaw clenched as she regarded Tsunade next to her. Her shishou always, always had the answer. There wasn't a poison that could defeat her.

But the hokage was strangely quiet.

Nari's eyes were wide with fear as the wheezing grew louder. She was still breathing but it was becoming harder by the minute as the poison's paralytic effects began to take over.

Sakura couldn't stand it. "We need to intubate her now, before her airway muscles start to freeze."

Tsunade nodded. "Go head, Sakura."

Sakura looked down at Nari, who was still clutching her hand. "We're going to put a tube down your throat to help you breathe. To make you more comfortable we're going to go head and sedate you, okay?"

Nari nodded weakly.

"Start the anesthesia, please." Sakura ordered.

Milky colored liquid began dripping from a bag hanging near the bedside. The genin's eyes fluttered for a moment, and then closed. The pink haired medic expertly guided the tube into her trachea and Nari was soon hooked into the ventilator. The sight of the sickly pale young girl with various tubes leading to different IV bags and machines nearly broke her heart.

The room, which had been bustling with panicked efficiency a few moments earlier, had gone quiet. Everyone was watching Nari.

Sakura placed her hands on her patient's collarbone. Her gentle chakra skimmed over Nari's body and the medic's hopes dwindled further. She looked up slowly to meet Tsunade's gaze.

"The muscles...they're starting to shut down. Isn't there anything we can do?"

The hokage's tone was grim. "If we can't even find the poison to extract it, I don't know of any way that we can cure her. Since she's being ventilated she'll be alright for now, but in the long run..." her voice trailed off. No one needed to be told that without functioning muscles there was no way Nari would ever be able to breathe on her own.

"No!" Sakura said stubbornly. "There has to be something! What about muscle stimulation, or trying to increase her metabolism to help burn off the poison. I'm not giving up."

Shizune reached forward and touched Sakura's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, but there's nothing. We already tried burning off the poison the moment she came in, but it managed to integrate so well into all of her organ systems the body doesn't even see it as something that needs to be broken down."

Sakura's shoulders slumped. She didn't lose patients. She, Tsunade, and Shizune were supposed to be the dream team of the hospital. Now, between the jounin who'd been hit with the poison and Nari, they would lose two patients within as many weeks.

"I need a minute." Sakura muttered, then turned on her heal plunged through the double doors into the ER. Nari's parents were sitting in the waiting room along with Nari's team. They didn't see Sakura come out of Nari's room so she drew up short and observed them quietly for a moment.

Nari was from a civilian family. Her parents had been apprehensive, but proud, when their daughter decided to attend the academy. Her mother was clutching her father's shirt, her hands twisting in the material, as they waited for news.

Sakura couldn't take anymore and fled down the hall, hardly seeing where she was headed.

_Don't cry. don't cry. don't cry, don't cry!_

_  
_There was an unwritten rule that whatever happened, you didn't cry in front of the family or the group of nurses and medics gathered in the patient's room. You excused yourself and shed your grief in private. When she burst into the locker room she collapsed on the nearest bench, drew her knees up to her chest, and finally let go the tears.

Nari was going to die, and there was nothing she could do.

Sakura cried for several minutes, relishing the feel of the salty tears running down her cheeks and cloying mucus lodged in her throat, both numbing the pain and making it ache deeper. After nearly twenty minutes the tears stopped and Sakura wiped her face with the sleeve of her shirt.

_Sometimes there's nothing you can do._ She reminded herself sternly, forcing herself to ignore the ache and the terror inside her body. She had to go back into the room. It was part of her job.

After a quick check of her puffy, red face in the mirror, Sakura bravely left the locker room.

She was not surprised to see that almost everyone had been cleared from the room and that Nari's family and teammates were now being allowed in.

Sakura swallowed as she noticed the look of stricken horror on the face of the genin's mother as Tsunade stood quietly in the back of the room, letting the parents have a moment.

The pink-haired medic moved to her shishou and Tsunade placed a kind hand on her shoulder.

Nari's mother turned to them. "There's really nothing you can do?" she begged as her tears spilled over. "Nothing for my little girl?"

The hokage moved forward then, her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"I'm so terribly sorry, but her muscles have shut down and she won't be able to breath on her own. I can't do anything to reverse that process. We could take the anesthesia off, but it's only a matter of time until her heart shuts down as well. If she were awake, it would be the most terrifying experience you can possibly imagine."

The room was silent.

"So, what do we do now?" Nari's father finally asked.

Tsunade sighed deeply. "We have a couple options. We can keep her intubated until her heart gives out. This will probably take another hour or so. Or, I can giver her some strong pain killers that will relax her body completely and then turn the ventilator off. That process usually takes about ten minutes at the most, although some go quicker than others."

"Can we have a moment to decide please?" Nari's father whispered.

"Of course. We'll be just outside when you need us."

They left the room and waited for the decision to be made.

To Sakura, it felt as though someone had wrapped a tight band around her chest and she was being slowly suffocated. When she had become a ninja her world had been full hope. She was going to change the world and make it a better place. But if there was no justice, no peace, for even a young girl like Nari, what was the point?

When had the world gone from being bright with possibilities to dark with war and hatred, and constant fighting? Who would stoop so low as to use a technique that incapacitated its enemies so completely? There was no longer any honor or inclination to fight an honest fight, and now everyone had to stoop lower and lower simply to keep from being wiped out.

Sakura took in a shaking breath.

_You're strong. You can handle this. You're not weak or annoying anymore. Tsunade-shishou made sure._

The door to Nari's room opened and her father stepped out and, looking ready to crumble, told Tsunade, "We're ready to let her go now."

Tsunade nodded. "I think you've made the best decision for Nari." The hokage reached out gently and grasped his hand. She looked him in the eye unwavering. "She's an incredibly brave girl and she has always made her captain and myself very proud of her. All I can give you now is the knowledge that we will find an antidote for this poison so this never happens again."

Nari's father nodded gravely. "I will hold you to that."

Tsunade's gaze moved to the floor and she quietly entered the operating room again, Sakura with her.

The young medic knew what was coming. Hell, she'd done this on her own a few times after all – of course, her cases were all the elderly who'd lived full lives and whose families were ready to let them go. She remembered gently pushing for the families to make the decision for an easy ending. Prolonging an imminent death was only selfish on the part of those still living.

Tsunade already had the syringes in her pocket. One was full of a drug that would relax all of Nari's muscles. It was commonly used to help keep patients relaxed and sedated in the ICU. The other was a high dose of pain killers that would stop Nari's breathing completely.

As her shishou began the sad process Sakura mentally stepped back a moment to ponder how she had ended up here now, in this situation.

A few hours ago she had been gleefully unpacking in her new apartment, and now she was here, watching a young girl die.

The drugs were administered, the ventilator turned off, and Sakura dutifully watched the heart monitor until the line flattened.

Nari was gone.

* * *

Sorry about the long update guys! Between graduation, a new job and a new cat -- 3 is WAY too many-- and studying like crazy to pass my pharmacy boards, I haven't had a whole lot of time (nothing personal, I've hardly seen my husband either!) This chapter isn't as long as I'd like either, but in a couple more days my life should start to even out a little again. Also, for those of you who are curious, all things medical that pop up in my writting are usually inspired by events that I have experienced. I try to make these things as realistic as possible for you!


	5. Chapter 5

Finally -- an update! I just couldn't seem to get this chapter to flow quite right...and I had to take a few days off for Otakon which totally threw my schedule out of balance. REMINDER: This fic is rated M and this chapter delves a little tiny bit into some adult material!

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto I'd quit working excruciating 10 hour days at the hospital...

A Different Path: Chapter 5

Sakura hadn't stayed long after that. The family and Nari's team needed to grieve and she would only be in the way. She walked home slowly in the dark, letting the blackness close around her and encase her in shadows. The tears threatened to start again and Sakura choked them back desperately.

Her thoughts drifted for a moment, back to when she was Nari's age. Images flashed through her mind, memories.

Academy graduation. Her father had managed to show up, and he had even seemed happy. Sakura had been too preoccupied with notion that she might be on Sasuke's team to really notice her parents that day, though.

Their first practice together as a genin team, and how miserably she and the boys had done. Their first few missions, and then the horror of her first chuunin exams.

Despite the events she had experienced which scared the twelve year old Sakura, she now longed sometimes for the simplicity. Her young feelings for Sasuke were innocent and hopeful, misguided of course, but easier to understand than the confusion she felt now. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore, so she moved doggedly from day to day minding her shishou. Her dreams had been so much bigger when she was younger.

_And sillier._ Sakura smirked, remembering her desperate desire to marry Sasuke. He was often far from her thoughts now. The dream of bringing him home had faded -- both from the inevitable healing of time and by the fact that she had seen the destruction left in his wake. The death and terror in the villages that had been ravaged by himself and his so-called team had been devastating. The small part of her that had someday hoped Sasuke would return, and be the man they all knew he could be, had finally been snuffed out like a lone candle on a dark, windy night.

A stray thought that Sakura quickly banished wondered if perhaps Nari was better off. She wouldn't have to witness one of her teammates betraying the village, the deaths of her comrades, the horror of battle.

A faint glow was beginning to appear on the distant horizon, and Sakura knew it wouldn't be long until another day started. Tsunade had given her the next day to get her thoughts back together before she had to return to work, and she hoped to have gotten moved into her apartment enough to be able to stay there. But before that, she desperately needed more sleep. The adrenaline had worn off, leaving her an exhausted shell.

She plodded up the stairs to Kakashi's apartment and forced herself to open the door, sit down and take off her boots, and crawl towards the couch. By the time she had the blanket up around her chin her eyes were closed and she had drifted into the heavy darkness of deep sleep.

The sun woke her about four hours later. She blinked tiredly and rubbed her arm across her forehead to block out the light. The apartment was quiet and she assumed Kakashi had left a few hours ago to do whatever it was he did on days with no missions.

Sakura paused. She knew exactly what Kakashi did with all of his free time. _Itcha Itcha, of course_.

With a groan she sat up and headed into the kitchen to scrounge up breakfast. She felt like she had a hangover. She was mentally exhausted, her head hurt, and everything felt sort of fuzzy.

_Food. I definitely need to eat something_.

She was bent over, digging in the fridge, when she heard the front door slam. She peered over the top of the counter to be sure that it was Kakashi.

He was carrying a couple of brown paper sacks that looked suspiciously like to-go bags. Sakura sniffed the air, wondering what is was he had brought home. It smelled divine. Kakashi noticed the hungry stare she was giving his packages and chuckled.

"I thought you might be in need of some breakfast after having such a long night." he said smiling.

The medic nearly lunged for him. "I'm starving! What did you get?"

He set the bags on the small dining room table and pulled out two styrofoam containers. Sakura's mouth was watering as Kakashi popped open the tops of the containers.

"Mmmm! Breakfast from Sharimi's café. Thanks!" she exclaimed. Sharimi made the most wonderful combinations of eggs, rice, and vegetables, all scrambled together. And…tucked into the corner of the box was the stick of dango that was always the best part of getting food from Sharimi's.

Sakura plunked down at the table and began wolfing down the food. She hadn't eaten much of the ramen last night and the stress of the hospital had drained what energy stores she had left.

Kakashi watched her eat ravenously. "Don't choke, Sakura." he commented.

Sakura glared at him over the top of her container. "Don't worry sensei." The food seemed to helping clear away the haze a little bit, although Sakura wasn't entirely certain that she wanted the numbing fog to fade.

He smiled back at her and then his face became more somber for a moment.

"Is everything ok? You were gone for a while last night."

Sakura's expression drooped in sadness. "Do you remember the jonin who got hit with that weird poisoned kunai a week ago?"

"Sure. No one could believe how fast his condition went downhill."

"Well, we had another case night, but this time it was a genin."

Kakashi's face was suddenly tense. "A genin? Who?"

"Nari, from team 14." Sakura had been keeping her composure, but at the mention of Nari's name she just couldn't keep herself detached from the situation.

Now she did nearly choke as the tears welled up and she struggled to choke them back. "We've hardly made any progress figuring out what's in that poison. We're not even close to having an antidote. I…I couldn't do anything for her. Tsunade doesn't have any ideas either, so we just sat there and watched her die!"

Kakashi was silent, and what little she could see of his expression was tense.

He reached tentatively for her hand and grasped it firmly in his larger, calloused one.

His piercing gaze rooted her to the chair for a moment. "Is the rest of her team…" he trailed off, fearing the worst.

Sakura sniffed, trying to rein in her emotions. "They're ok. No one else was hurt."

The jonin studied his student for a moment. Girls had been a puzzle for Kakashi from the day he had realized they existed. They were emotional, and prone to strange outbursts, and when you were least expecting it they turned incredibly stubborn. He had never understood Rin, even when it had become painfully obvious that she had romantic feelings toward him, and he had even less luck with the girl now crying at his dining room table. Heaven forbid he ever have children. He wouldn't have a clue what to do with a crying little girl.

He remembered the awkward pats and ruffling of Sakura's hair when she was upset that her other teammates couldn't seem to quit fighting with each other. He'd wanted to help his student, but, he just couldn't quite figure out what to do with her. How many days had they trained, her claiming to be fine, when he could practically see the emotions stewing behind her eyes. There was a tree on the training grounds that still hadn't recovered from her anger.

Kakashi finally decided that the best plan was to reassure and encourage.

"I'm sure that you'll make more progress with the poison soon, Sakura. I know you'll do your best to make sure that no one else has to die like this."

She blinked at him through her tears. "Do you really think there's a way to figure it out?"

He patted her hand reassuringly. "Yes, I'm sure you'll find it."

Sakura tentatively took another bite of her food. It was getting cold, but she was still incredibly hungry.

She managed a small smile. "Thanks sensei."

* * *

After Sakura had finished her breakfast she convinced herself not to dwell on the night's events and instead rounded up Ino to help her move. This was not her first patient to die, and certainly wouldn't be the last, so she could stand to buck up and keep going.

_Distance yourself, Sakura. You can handle this. _

Luckily, Sakura's father was scheduled to be out of town for almost another week, so Sakura and Ino had the run of Sakura's old home. Sakura went through the house collecting anything she knew was absolutely hers, and Ino tossed items from the growing pile into boxes. They chattered happily back and forth and Sakura did her best to keep the gruesome images from the night before tucked into the back of her thoughts.

Ino was jealous that Sakura was going to have her apartment all to herself and was enjoying needling Sakura about all the things she would have to deal with now. Bills, rent, cooking and cleaning on a regular basis… She had moved out of her parents' home a few months earlier, but was now dealing with two crazy roommates. One of them was a fellow shinobi, a jonin who, when he was in town, managed to bring home a different girl every weekend. It had become quite the game for Sakura and Ino to guess who would fall to his charms next. Ino was glad his room was at the opposite end of the apartment and that a sweet civilian girl named Ari had the bedroom next to hers.

Sakura would be totally on her own. Ino craved the company that came with housemates, the constant noise and coming and going of various friends. She inwardly shuddered at the thought of the silence that would greet Sakura every time she returned to the bright apartment. But, she knew that Sakura would likely relish the peace and quiet…

_And the loneliness…_ Ino thought bitterly. Her friend never seemed to have any sort of boyfriend. Sakura had sworn, on pain of death, that she had managed to loose her virginity on the same night Ino had, but she had never revealed any of the details about who it was or how it had all worked out. Sakura had simply blushed quietly and replied that while she had an enjoyable time, it really wasn't any of Ino's business and she definitely was not open to sharing.

In Ino's mind, this translated to 'it's only a matter of time until I get Sakura drunk enough to spill her guts,' but so far, she'd had no luck. Sakura would blush, and stammer, and then change the subject. Even after a few shots.

"I think that's everything." Sakura's voice came from the doorway into her bedroom and Ino looked around, noting the boxes they had managed to accumulate. Sakura produced a couple scrolls with seals ringing a large circle. She spread the first scroll out on the floor, moved a box over the top, and made the appropriate hand seals.

The kanji on the scroll started to glow for a moment, and with a pop the box sitting on the paper suddenly disappeared.

Ino's eyes widened. "That's a handy jutsu for moving. Where'd you learn that one?"

Sakura grinned back. "Kakashi taught it to me, actually. I think he was hoping that it would help us move faster so I wouldn't have to sleep on his couch again tonight."

Ino eyed her skeptically. "I can't believe you've been living with the most perverted ninja in history, Sakura. What would your mother think?"

"Horrible things. That's why I told her I was sleeping on your couch." Sakura winked at Ino.

Ino growled. "It'd be nice to know when I'm supposed to be covering for somebody, especially when I'm covering for someone staying with Kakashi, of all people. Don't get me wrong, the guy is a great shinobi, but reading porn continuously? Please."

"Like it's any worse than those romance novels of yours. Other than the fact that the non-stop sex doesn't start until page 75, there's really no difference."

"You just can't appreciate them because you have no romantic experience to speak of whatsoever." Ino bit back.

For a moment Sakura looked hurt, and Ino wondered if she'd pushed too far with that comment.

Sakura simply turned back to the boxes and moved the next over the scroll.

It took them about half an hour to get the rest of the boxes stored in the two scrolls, and then it was a 15 minute walk from Sakura's parents' house to her new apartment. With a quick releasing jutsu the boxes and limited furniture all reappeared with a pop.

What had seemed like a lot of stuff in Sakura's tiny bedroom at home now seemed like barely anything.

"You're going to have to invest in some furniture." Ino commented after they had moved Sakura's bed into her room. The rest of the apartment was practically bare with the exception of a few bookcases and Sakura's desk and desk chair.

The furniture really hadn't been hers, but her mother had told her to take it, so Sakura grudgingly had. She desperately needed at least a place to sleep and to work, so her bedroom furniture came. She figured her father would be so pleased to be rid of her he wouldn't even care that she had ransacked her bedroom of everything even slightly valuable.

She and Ino worked diligently through the afternoon, and Ino called a halt to the project around 7PM as the sun started to set. There were a few boxes left of items that would need to be unpacked once Sakura actually had a place to store things.

"Thanks for all your help today, Ino, I really appreciate it."

The blonde smiled back at her. "What are friends for?"

"Can I take you out for a drink or something as a thank you present?" Sakura offered. Her heart really wasn't in the offer since she was longing to flop onto her own bed, pull the covers over her head and settle in, but she figured she owed Ino something for all of her heard work.

The blonde's features brightened slyly and Sakura began to wonder what she had gotten herself into.

"Tell you what," Ino started, "Why don't I run home for a couple hours, and then we'll meet up and head to Magumbo?"

Sakura nearly groaned aloud. Magumbo was Konoha's nightclub. A fun place to be sure when you had the energy, but after her grueling night at the hospital, and moving all day, she really didn't feel like shoving her way through a throng of sweaty, grinding drunks.

Sakura eyes Ino skeptically from underneath her hair. "Are you sure that's where you want to go tonight?" Sakura asked hopefully.

"Sure!" Ino's reply was way too enthusiastic for Sakura's liking. "We haven't been dancing in ages! Come one, when was the last night you and I were actually in town together? Besides…you won't have any icky parents sitting up waiting for you now!"

Sakura sighed resignedly. "They haven't done that in ages!"

Ino just looked at her.

"Umm, ok. Where do you want me to meet you?" Sakura finally gave in.

Ino thought for a moment. "Why don't you just come to my apartment since it's pretty much on the way. That way I can inspect your outfit."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm perfectly capable of dressing myself, thank you."

Ino snorted. "I've seen your 'club wear' before, Sakura. A t-shirt and your medic skirt are not appropriate."

"Fine, fine. I'll dress properly tonight, and then meet you at your house in a couple hours."

Ino nodded in agreement and headed for her apartment, while Sakura dove into her newly filled closet.

She loved her new apartment just as much today as she had the day before, although it seemed forever since her mother had shown it to her. The light had faded now and the pretty windows in her bedroom were dark, but she could make out a few twinkling stars in the night sky.

Considering that she had just unpacked everything, her going-out clothes weren't hard to find, and because she really didn't feel like dressing up tonight, Sakura grabbed a pair of black jeans and an sea foam colored halter top that almost matched her eyes.

She headed into her bathroom to change, wondering what she had gotten herself into for the night. The top came up to her neck in the front so she added a flashy silver necklace and some naughty looking platform high heels. Makeup and running a brush through her tangled hair completed the process.

As Sakura moved toward the door, she glanced around her somewhat-filled apartment. She supposed that she couldn't give Ino too hard of a time seeing as how the entire moving process had only taken one day.

She sighed again and headed for Ino's. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

The club was crowded with shinobi and civilians alike, and Sakura and Ino had to fight to get to the bar. The music pounded around them and the beat thrummed in Sakura's body. She knew she'd had too many drinks, but she wasn't worried. Thank god she didn't have to go back to Kakashi's tonight; her sensei would likely be completely disapproving of her irresponsible behavior. At least when Ino tugged her towards the dance floor she couldn't seem to remember why she usually stayed away from the tightly packed area.

The alcohol stole through her body, leaving a warm, tingly feeling in its wake. She languidly bent her head back and let her long hair cascade down her back as her arms played over her head. Its weight was heavy and it was silky against her bare back. Her body moved with the rhythm as she let herself fall into the music and forget the troubles of the past few days. She just needed a little extra-curricular stress relief.

She could feel someone's eyes on her, and the next time she and Ino twirled around each other she caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye. He was standing by the bar with a beer in his hand and he was sneaking glances at them when his other shinobi comrades weren't paying attention.

Normally, Sakura's heart would have stuttered for a moment and her cheeks would have turned pink, but now Sakura simply put a little more sway into her hips and rolled her lithe body along with the beating rhythm. The song ended and she told Ino she was going to grab a drink and would be back in a minute. Ino would be fine, probably better, on her own than she was with Sakura at her side. Too many girls seemed to scare away the eligible bachelors. It was a little quieter by the bar, but not by much, and she had to squeeze her way past people to get where she was headed.

After politely trying to squeeze her way through a large group of giggling girls, Sakura had finally managed to reach the bar again, with its glowing, backlit display of alcohol, and smooth, varnished wood surface. She tried to studiously ignore the man standing a few feet away, and pretend as if she hadn't seen him, but she wasn't having much luck.

_Come on, I just need some water! How long is this going to take?_ She fidgeted uncomfortably.

She stared, hard, at the surface of the bar in front of her as she felt him approach.

"Sakura. I wasn't expecting to see you here tonight. Did Ino drag you out?" the voice was warm and masculine, and she couldn't deny that it made something inside her tingle.

She finally glanced up, meeting Shikamaru's gaze. "Yeah, she did. How did you guess?" she asked wryly.

He winked at her. "I suppose I could lie and say its because I'm a genius, but that wouldn't be very truthful when I actually saw you two come in together."

A giggle slipped out as Sakura gazed up at him. _Oh my gosh, how much have I had to drink…I think I stopped counting at 3!_

Sakura continued to gaze up at him, not quite sure what to stay in her stupor.

Shikamaru gently reached out and tucked a strand of hair that had fallen across her face behind her ear.

"You know," he began awkwardly, "You and I haven't talked much since that night."

Now the kunoichi looked down at the floor. "I know." she replied sheepishly.

"I had a really good time, but you seem like you're still upset about something." he probed.

Sakura faltered. "Upset? No, I'm not upset. I…" now the alcohol was talking, "I just didn't feel like I expected to." she sighed.

Hurt flashed in Shikamaru's eyes before it was covered by his usually mask of sarcasm.

Sakura clumsily tried to re-trace her steps. "Oh no! Shikamaru, that's not what I meant. I mean…that part of everything was great. It's just, I thought it would make me feel more mature." _Shit shit shit. None of this is coming out right! _

Shikamaru laughed and Sakura's cheeks stung.

"You think too hard about things sometimes Sakura. You need to learn to just relax and enjoy life." he chucked her under her chin. "You know, that's what this kind of fun is usually about."

The alcohol was definitely making that tingling feeling low in her stomach more pronounced.

Sakura thought for a moment, and then decided to leap without looking too closely at the ravine she was crossing. She looked up at Shikamaru from underneath her lashes and blinked purposefully. "Maybe I need another lesson."

His eyes widened in surprise. "Uh, Sakura, how much have you had to drink tonight?"

She shrugged. "Just a couple." She tried to smile innocently up at the jounin.

He snorted. "Yeah, sure." Shikamaru was about to continue, as he knew exactly how fast Sakura's metabolism really was…when he realized that it would just be too troublesome to argue with a pretty girl who was considering coming home with him for the night.

He took a deep breath. "So, are you really serious about needing another lesson?" he asked coyly. "Or have you been taking lessons from your friend over there." He jerked his head in the direction of Ino, who had managed to wrap various appendages over two separate men, both of whom were looking rather mesmerized by the whole ordeal.

Sakura wrapped both arms around Shikamaru's neck, and drew his head down to hers so she could whisper in his ear. "I'm perfectly," her tongue flicked out to the lick to earring that pierced his earlobe, "serious." she finished.

Shikamaru pulled back to gaze at her with suspicious surprise. "Alright. Let's get out of here then."

Shikamaru wrapped an arm around her shoulders and started steering her through the crowd towards the door.

"Wait a second!" Sakura hissed. "I have to tell Ino I'm leaving!"

The strategist glanced over his shoulder at the blonde, now making out with one of the men she had been wrapped around earlier. "Trust me," he said wryly, "she won't even notice you're gone."

With that Shikamaru pushed the door open and pulled Sakura with him into the darkness.

Most men would have set a brusque pace, and Sakura was waiting to be dragged back to Shikamaru's apartment, but she should have known better.

The only time Shikamaru moved quickly was when he was thirty seconds away from finishing off the enemy and they had cleanly fallen into his expertly laid trap.

He strolled casually down the street in the direction of the hokage tower and jounin headquarters. Sakura knew he lived close by because he spent many nights with the strategy team working late hours, and it was so much more comfortable to manage to fall into your own bed after a late night than it was to try sleeping on one of the random, lumpy futons scattered throughout the building.

Neither of them felt the need to speak, Shikamaru because it required effort, Sakura because the warm feelings zinging through her body kept her content. The air was fairly warm for the time of year and smelled moist and slightly floral.

It had been a while since she had been to Shikamaru's apartment, and she wondered if memories from their last time together would start to surface. Luckily, Shikamaru was too lazy to spend much time shopping for anything other than the few items he absolutely had to have, so his living quarters were usually neat and clean. That, and much like many of the other shinobi in the village, he was never home to really mess things up.

As they reached the building Shikamaru took Sakura's hand and pulled her up the stairs behind him. When he let her inside she could see that her guess had been right. Minimal furniture was shoved back against the walls to make room for the shougi board in the living room with pieces scattered haphazardly across it. However, what they had com here for had little to do with the jounin's decorating scheme, and more to do with meeting basic human need.

_Yes,_ thought Sakura. _Need seems to be about the right description._ Images of Nari flashed in her minds eye again and she turned forcefully away from them and into Shikamaru's arms.

He was warm, and he smelled faintly of the hokage's office and the bar, but underneath that was a scent that was only him. Sakura's stomach clenched in response. His grip on her hand tightened as he slid the screen that led into his bedroom aside. He had tugged the sheets and quilt up over the bed in his haste this morning, and he was glad somewhere in the back of his mind that had at least had the sense to pick up a little, but he had other things to concentrate on at the moment.

Shikamaru turned to her and took her face between his hands. His gaze was steady on hers as he slowly closed the distance between them.

The first touch of his lips was tentative, curious. It was as if he was waiting for Sakura to change her mind. When she didn't, his kiss was slightly more confident, and one of his arms moved around Sakura's shoulders and pulled her into him.

Sakura let herself sink into the warmth and safety of his arms. She tipped her head up, closed her eyes, and ignored the tiny voice in the back of her head reminding her that this might not be the best decision she had ever made. Sakura shut out all other thoughts and simply let herself respond as her clothing disappeared piece by piece, until she was wrapped in nothing but the darkness.

* * *

This is the part where I beg for reviews!!


	6. Chapter 6

Ok, ok it's been forever since I updated... work seems to keep getting a little crazier everyday, but no fear, things are progressing well in the story and I even have the next couple chapters fairly well completed! So please, read and review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of said characters...they just come to play on my computer

A Different Path: Chapter 6

Sakura awoke to the darkness and uncomfortable heat. The sheets, sweaty and sticky and tangled across her body, were suffocating.

Her eyes flew open and she had a moment of disorientation as she tried to remember where in the hell she was.

_Oh, yes. Shikamaru's._ The surge of adrenalin slowly started to fade as she catalogued what she could see of her surroundings. His dresser stood in one corner, and on the other side of the room was what she guessed was a desk, judging by all of the clutter sitting on top of it. She hadn't been paying much attention when she entered the room.

After waking to unfamiliarity, Sakura was realizing that her head was definitely still a little fuzzy. She remembered everything that had happened that evening, right from the moment she left her apartment for Ino's up until she had fallen asleep, sweaty and exhausted, next to Shikamaru. The only problem was the slight haze clouding her memories and the fact that even now, as she concentrated, she couldn't quite get her thoughts in focus.

_Damn alcohol, I hate this part._ She grumbled to herself.

Beside her, just as tangled in the covers as she was, Shikamaru was snoring quietly. Sakura decided that she had to get out of here. Her most recent experience in the ways of intimacy had been far more enjoyable than the first, but other than those few moments of blissful oblivion, the whole thing seemed fairly overrated.

Why people did stupid, or horrible things, simply for sex, she had yet to understand. Sure, it was nice, and it made her feel more relaxed, but it certainly did not compare to all the hype. Just the fact that sex could play into all sorts of darker activities made Sakura cringe. She was on the list of available shinobi for "kunoichi only" missions as it was required for unmarried female jounin, but she dreaded the day that her name would be picked. Fortunately, being the hokage's apprentice did have some advantages, and Tsunade was much less likely to send her off on that sort of mission.

Sakura began the slow struggle of sitting up while intoxicated and tangled in sweaty sheets. When her torso was finally upright, she leaned forward and began gently unwinding the covers from her legs, all the while hoping Shikamaru would remain asleep.

But the man wasn't a jounin for nothing, and when the bed was jostled as Sakura climbed out of it he snorted awake. His eyes blinked sleepily in the darkness for a moment as he realized that his bed partner was missing.

"Sakura?" he mumbled.

"Right here." she replied from a couple feet away from the bed.

"Are you leaving?"

"Umm, yeah I think I'm going to. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight. I hope you don't mind."

He yawned. "No, it's fine." for a moment, Sakura wondered if that would be the abrupt end of their evening together, when Shikamaru continued, "Don't be such a stranger this time, ok? I want to see you again."

Sakura blushed. Was he actually implying that he wanted to keep meeting up with her?

She had never pictured herself involved a relationship most accurately defined as "friends with benefits." Before, she had always thought the girls who tried it were probably doing themselves a disservice. How were you ever going to find a decent guy to settle down with when in reality you were settling for Mr. Right Now – and tarnishing your reputation along the way. But, Sakura had noticed how few shinobi made lasting attachments. Marriage was a rarity as civilian spouses couldn't cope with the danger and the travel and shinobi marriages tended to end tragically when someone failed to come home.

So, she finally concluded, if the dream of being part of a happy, stable family was unattainable, why not settle for the next best thing? Everyone needed some form of human interaction.

Sakura smiled at Shikamaru, "I'd like that too." she replied, and then began searching for her clothes in the dark.

* * *

Sakura stumbled into the hokage building, blinking from the bright sunlight and gasping for breath. She was late for her shift as replacement hokage's assistant while Shizune was on a mission, and Tsunade would not be happy with her. Darn Ino for dragging her out last night, she knew that had not been a good idea.

She jogged up two flights of stairs, ignoring the burning sensation in her legs and hoping that Tsunade wouldn't notice her tardiness. She was about to fly through the secretaries' office on her way down the hall when she nearly collided with her mother.

"Mom!" she screeched in surprise, her eyes widening in time to see her mother flinch.

Her mother smiled serenely at her. "In a hurry sweetie?"

Sakura looked sheepish. "Umm, I kind of overslept this morning."

"Then I guess you better hurry up," her mother replied, still smiling.

"Yeah, but, um, I'll stop by and say hi later if I have a chance."

Sakura headed down the hall in the direction of Tsunade's office, but she glanced over her should at her mother one last time, concerned. MOTHER was tentatively easing herself down into her chair, pain etched into her features.

_Shit._ Was all she could think. Her father must have returned from his mission and her mother was now all alone to take the brunt of his anger. She desperately wanted to interceed, but no matter how many times she pleaded with her mother for her to leave the bad relationship she would make up excuses to stay.

There was nothing she could do at the moment, except get herself into the hokage's office before she was any later. However, when she opened the door she was once again surprised.

Kakashi was lounging against the window near Tsunade's desk, and Shizune was standing on her other side.

Tsunade looked up when she entered the room. "Ah, Sakura, good. I've been waiting for you. Since Shizune made it back earlier than I expected I am sending you on a mission with Kakashi."

"Of course shishou." Sakura replied. _Oh kami, _she groaned internally, _why in the hell did I stay out so late last night?_

Tsunade continued with her explanation of the mission. Since Naruto had left to prepare to become hokage, Sakura had found herself occasionally on two-man missions with Kakashi. His abilities were obviously unquestionable, but sometimes he was a bit more harsh and withdrawn than Sakura's ideal mission partner would be. Of course, this made him the man he was so it was hard to argue.

"This is an A-ranked mission. You will be retrieving a scroll from mercenaries who are supposedly involved in the trade of those damned poison kunai. They will be heavily armed, but I'm sure you two can handle them. They will likely be traveling through the northwestern corner of Konoha tomorrow sometime, so you have all day today to get up there and get situated. You will need to head out immediately."

Sakura nodded. "Hai Shishou."

"Good. You are dismissed."

Sakura turned and headed for the door but Kakashi caught her before she made it into the hallway.

"Will an hour be enough to get your things together Sakura?" he asked, a quizzical eye examing her rumpled uniform and tired, red eyes.

"Yes sensei. I think the only stuff I have unpacked is my mission gear, so at least it will be easy to find. I just need to say goodbye to my mother before we go."

"Allright, We'll meet at the gates in an hour then."

He was just about to depart when Sakura turned to him with a scowl. "Don't be late." she grumbled to him as he disappeared with a poof.

Moving through the secretaries office at a more leisurely pace this time, Sakura stopped at her mother's desk to chat.

"Mission, Sakura?" she asked, recognizing the look of determination on her daughter's face.

"Yeah, I'm headed out with Kakashi shortly."

"Well, be careful sweetie. I always worry about you when you're away on these things." her mother sighed.

Sakura smiled at Nariko. "I know, thanks Mom. I'll come and see you when I get home if it's okay."

Sakura tried to hug her mother, but when the young shinobi wrapped her arms around her mother she grimaced in pain and quickly tried to hide her reaction.

Sakura drew back. "Mom…" she started.

Her mother frowned. "Don't worry about me Sakura. I'm fine."

"No, you're not fine. It isn't okay that he hits you."

Nariko refused to meet her gaze and stubbornly glared at the wall over Sakura's head. "Sakura, it's complicated between your father and I."

Sakura's eyes hardened to a steely jade. "Nothing is complicated when he's hurting you. Please think about leaving mom."

"You're just not old enough to understand what's going on between us. He's a good man but he gets angry easily. It's justified when you think about how his life turned out. Nothing has been what he expected." Nariko was starting to tear up. "I can't abandon him. He needs me."

Sakura had heard these words over and over again from her mother from the time she was old enough to understand what was really happening behind her parent's closed bedroom doors. She sighed in frustration.

"At least let me take a look at your bruises mom."

Her mother dabbed at the tears in her eyes and nodded. She followed Sakura into the bathroom down the hall and reluctantly pulled open her yukata.

Sakura could barely restrain her gasp of angered shock.

Her mother's body was covered in dark, angry handprints. Sakura could see a few places where the skin had been cut, probably by her father's wedding ring or his fingernails. Some of the bruises were barely starting to heal and had turned a sickly yellow color around the edges.

Sakura gritted her teeth. She was tempted to march back down the hall to Tsunade, find out where her father was and beat the crap out of him. Unfortunately, the man was a high-ranking jounin and Sakura figured that he'd probably give her a run for her money if she ever really did come after him. He was one of the few people who still made her feel that twinge of helplessness she had so often encountered as a genin.

For now, this was the best she could do. "I'll try to be gentle mom." She murmured, and then set to work.

The green glow from her hands illuminated the bathroom with an eerie fluorescent hue, casting an even uglier shadow across the bruising blossoming on Nariko's torso. After several minutes of concentration Sakura drew back to gaze at her work. The bruises were as faded as they were going to get with her help, and the small cuts were tightly closed.

"All right. That's all I can do for now." Sakura said quietly. "But Mom, this can't keep happening."

"Stay out of it Sakura." Nariko said gruffly, retying her yukata. "There are things in life that you simply will never be able to understand. You should go, I'd hate for you to be late for your mission."

Nariko marched out of the small room, letting the door slam behind her.

_How dare she treat me like a child! Especially after I sat here and healed up all her damn bruises and cuts. All I'm trying to is help. What an ungratefula…._Sakura forcefully stopped her train of thought before it could go any further. She would save her own rage and frustration for the mercenaries.

* * *

When she and Kakashi headed out of the village a short while later Sakura took to the trees with determination fueled by rage at her father's actions. The man shouldn't have even been allowed to continue as a shinobi. He was clearly a dishonorable person. He had always been a harsh and uncaring, but nothing angered Sakura more than seeing him unleash his anger on her mother.

Sakura pushed off the tree branch under feet harder than she had intended, and had to wrench herself sideways to avoid crashing into Kakashi who was on the branch in front of her.

He turned to her with concern. "Everything alright, Sakura? You seem a little more…enthusiastic…than usual."

He could practically hear her growl as she answered. "My mother has bruises all over her body from where my father hits her, and you can see her cringe in pain with every movement, and yet, she refuses to even think about leaving him. I can't abandon her, but I don't know how to handle this."

"Ahh." Kakashi replied, and then was quiet for a moment while he thought. He had known for a while that Hoshi could be abusive in his rage, but he had hoped that Sakura and her mother had been spared. When Sakra had moved about abruptly a few weeks ago his suspicions had been confirmed, but he had yet to see a bruise on the girl that seemed out of place with her missions and training, so he had stayed out of it.

There was a reason that shinobi usually paired up together instead of seeking affection in the civiallian sector. When you were trained to crush large objects with your fists, you needed someone who had a better shot at keeping up with you than what a normal citizen could provide.

"You shouldn't think of it as abandoning your mother, Sakura. I know that you'll do whatever you can for her, but you may have to accept that she is not going to leave her current situation. She has been dealing with Hoshi for quite sometime, and its very possible that fear of the unknown is a larger worry for her than fear of Hoshi. You should simply let her know that you're available if or whenever she needs you."

Sakura nodded slowly in agreement. "I suppose that's all that I can offer her at the moment."

Kakahi turned to her on the branch, his dark eye soft with concern. His hands came up to rest on her shoulders as he looked her in the eye. "It will be alright Sakura, give your mother a chance."

Sakura had a sudden flashback to when she twelve, and standing on the roof of the destroyed hospital, practically shaking in her sandals. Kakashi was there, ruffling her hair and trying to calm her tears. _And that situation had never worked itself out._ _Sasuke has become something truly evil and has buried himself in Sound, taking over all that was Orochimaru, and Naruto is gone again, training more so he can take over for Tsunade when she retires. _

But Kakashi was looking at her expectantly, so she buried her anger, mustered up an only slightly fake smile and turned to head off into the trees again. "You're right, sensei, I suppose that things will work themselves out eventually." She responded quietly.

By the time they were ready to make camp that evening the darkness was beginning to seep through the trees. The sky far above the green canopy was a pale, washed-out blue slowly heading for the inky black purple that came with full dark. One or two stars twinkled in the distance and Sakura considered wishing on them for a moment, and then decided that she had no idea what to even wish for, so she gave it up.

The temperature was dropping as the sun set and a sudden chill had Sakura rubbing her arms out of habit. Since they were unsure of exactly when the mercenaries would be passing through, there would be no fire tonight. Prepackaged protein bars were on the menu instead of anything that actually sounded appetizing.

Sakura unwrapped hers, inspecting the semi-hardened substance with suspicion, and then bit into it. It was supposed to taste like peanut butter, but the bars never came close. It was chewy and slightly powdery. Sakura could feel it practically sucking the moisture out of her mouth.

"Kakashi?" she asked quietly. The jounin was back-to-back with her and currently ratting into his own protein bar.

"Yes?" he asked.

"You were in ANBU weren't you?"

"I was." He responded shortly. He didn't like to think too hard about all the horrible things he had seen during that time.

"So…you had lots of long missions where food was limited and you had no way to cook, right?" Sakura continued.

"Correct."

"How in the world did you manage to choke down so many of these nasty protein bars? I feel like the powder turns into cement in my mouth."

Behind her Kakashi chuckled softly and she could feel the rumble of his laugh through her back.

"Lots and lots of water. My ANBU team decided that these bars weren't really meant as food, but that they were instead meant as a way to make sure you stay hydrated. Without consuming a liter of water there's no way you'd be able to choke one down."

Sakura had her canteen open on the forest floor beside her already.

The darkness settled in around the pair and as Sakura sat in the silence she realized how few times she had been on a mission with Kakashi as her only other companion. He had never been much for conversation in the past, but Naruto's constant jabbering had covered it up. Now that it was the two of them, isolated in the cocoon of night, the quiet moment stretched long.

A yawn escaped from Sakura's mouth before she could suppress it.

She could feel when, against her back, Kakashi half turned toward her. "Why don't you sleep for a little while Sakura. I'm not very tired yet, so I'll take first watch and wake you up in a little while."

She was embarrassed that she was already so tired, but there was nothing she could do. "Alright, sensei. Wake me in a few hours."

Her dinner finished, Sakura slouched down a little further, nestling her back against Kakashi's. She let her head drift towards her chest, and in a few moments she was sound asleep. If she dreamed the tendrils of thought did not penetrate into her conscious thought, as the next thing she was aware of was Kakashi gently shaking her.

"Uhhh?" she murmured, voice heavy with sleep.

"Sakura, wake up." Someone was insisting, and no matter how many times she swatted at them, the voice wouldn't go away.

"Oh fine, I'm awake." She finally grumbled, giving up the fight to remain asleep. She blinked her eyes, noting that it was quite dark except for the light of the stars and the sliver of moon overhead. "What time is it?" she asked.

"I think its about 3:00." Kakashi replied. "Your turn for watch, I keep trying to nod off."

A smirk twisted Sakura's features. How many missions had she been on where everyone else had been asleep, except for Naruto, who was planning some prank, and Kakashi, who despite feigning sleep was wide awake, keeping of track of their unruly teammate. Sure he had been nodding off.

"Alright." Sakura stretched her spine out and then settled back onto her patch of ground. Behind her she could feel Kakashi trying to get comfortable.

As he slept she watched the stars overhead and mused about life. She had originally planned to be happily married to Sasuke with a baby on the way at this point in her life, but…that idea was obviously not where she was headed now. Many times she had pondered how her life would play out after her little girl dreams had been tossed out in favor of more mature ideas.

Tsunade had told her she could be head medic at the hospital if she worked at it. It was a prestigious position to be sure, but she would no longer be able to go on missions and would have to spend much of her time buried under paperwork. She would have even less time to spend seeing patients and she knew she would miss it very much. She loved the mystery with each case and the investigation that went on to figure out what was wrong. And she couldn't deny that she loved healing people. The sensation of the delicate touch of healing chakra was indescribable, and the knowledge that you could fix damaged tissue, or kill with ease, as you directed your energy through someone's body was intoxicating.

Sakura had never her used her medical knowledge to kill, and she hoped it would never come to that. It was repulsive to her to consider using the talent of her chakra control to murder painfully and ruthlessly from the inside out.

She shuddered.

So what was she going to do with her life? She had worked tirelessly to achieve her goal of jounin, and while she certainly wasn't in the elite class that some were, she was still good. The next logical step was ANBU, but Sakura didn't really think she would find her place among the brutal, nameless assassins. Maybe someday she would be good enough to consider taking on students of her own.

She wondered what it would be like to be responsible for her own band of unruly genin. Perhaps she should ask Kakashi what he though of being a teacher? He would certainly give her an honest opinion, and if Sakura could think of anyone who was likely speak callously about the rigors of taming pre-teens, he would be the one.

Her train of thought continued as she gazed into the trees surrounding their small camp. The sky had just begun to lighten when she heard them.

Feet, nearly silent, hitting the heavy tree branches as they traveled through the forest.

Adrenaline poured through Sakura's previously relaxed body. The mercenaries were a little early. She turned to give Kakashi a shove awake, but he was already sitting up and digging in his weapons pouch for a kunai.

_Damn, I barely moved! How does he wake up so fast?_ Sakura cursed to herself while she pulled her gloves on.

Kakashi leaned towards her. "I'll head them off from the front, you crush them from behind." He whispered urgently.

"Right." She whispered and then vanished into the trees.

Kakashi stood and dusted himself off. The morning confrontation had arrived earlier than he was hoping, but at least he had manage to grab a few hours of sleep. Sakura's back had been warm and inviting against his, and the gentle lavender smell of her shampoo and soap had lulled him to sleep. His highly trained sense of danger had awoken him only a minute before Sakura had turned to do so. Usually he hardly slept on missions unless they were staying somewhere that he had absolute assurance of safety. Of course, after several years of chasing after Naruto, he had learned that it was nearly pointless to try and sleep anyhow.

The mercenaries were getting closer with every moment and Kakashi dropped into his familiar battle stance. All he and Sakura needed was to grab the transaction scroll that one of them would be carrying and they would be on their way.

When the first of the men dropped out of the trees and into the clearing, Kakashi scrutinized him closely. They were supposedly nothing more than hired thugs, but these guys looked more like shinobi than what Kakashi had been expecting. They wore no headbands or markers of any kind, but their clothes resembled those of Sound shinobi.

Well, he was about to find out for sure.

"Look what we managed to stumble across, boys. The great copy ninja himself." The man who appeared to be the leader spoke.

His three other comrades landed in the clearing behind him, two with katanas drawn.

Kakashi sighed. "If you would hand over the scroll you're carrying we could avoid all this unpleasantness." He offered.

The second man smirked. "You killed my brother a few years ago. I've been waiting to run into you for a long time, and seeing how you're sorely outnumbered, I don't think we'll be handing anything over to you."

"All right, if that's how you want it." The jounin replied, waiting for the inevitable ill-timed charge.

One man, katana in hand, charged straight for Kakashi. The experienced shinobi watched him come, eyes calculating the moves he would need to make to avoid being sliced up. Dodging the attack was only a matter of a few quick steps to the side and ducking at the proper interval.

His attacker lunged forward viciously, intending to land a blow simply through his tenacity and wild patterns of movement. Kakashi stepped backwards out of the man's reach and blocked his next slice with the kunai he now held in his hand. They pushed against each other, trying to overwhelm the other's strength.

With one last shove the attacker stumbled and Kakashi leaped backwards. A different man approached him this time, this one with more care and skill than his comrade had demonstrated. The other two supposed mercenaries will still standing back out of the fray, watching carefully. They stood near the trees at the edge of the clearing with their attention focused on the fight unfolding in front of them.

Sakura peered out from within the bush where she was hiding. Her chakra was suppressed to a low thrum that would match the signatures generated by the life around her. The clang of metal reached her ears and she knew that the fight had begun. Now Kakashi was counting on her to take care of things from the rear.

She slithered silently out from the confines of the green bush. The two men on the edge of the trees were stupidly focused only on what was taking place in front of them.

Sakura instinctively pulled her gloves on tighter and began the delicate process of channeling chakra to her deadly fists.

The dense green forest around her had gone silent at the start of the battle. Its rich scent filled her nostrils as she inhaled deeply to calm her nerves. The towering branches seemed to form a tunnel towards her prey.

_Just another day at the office._ Sakura told herself sternly.

When she had crept within five yards of them she took her stance, brought her fist back by her cheek, and drove it into the ground.

The response was instantaneous. Rocks and soil came boiling up out of the ground as a huge crater spread toward the unsuspecting enemy.

They turned as one to look over their shoulder at their approaching doom, but by then it was too late. A torrent of debris rained down on their heads as the rapidly growing crater swallowed them up from below.

It was over quickly. The men were trapped, forced to wait for Sakura to bring death. Her boots crunched on the newly upturned earth as she approached, kunai in hand in once again. The medic knelt down in front of the two men, and before they could speak, slit their throats.

The blood that sprayed across her face was hot and she blinked rapidly to avoid getting any in her eyes. She could feel some of the red, sticky liquid seeping into her clothing, but she only shrugged her shoulders in annoyance.

One of these two must have the scroll they were after, and she was going to find it.

Early morning sunlight was beginning to fill the small grassy area and it lit the red stained earth with an eerie glow. The damp, mossy scent of the forest was now overshadowed by the coppery stench of blood and death.

With another burst of strength Sakura yanked one of the men from the ground where he had been trapped. She began methodically searching his body for the scroll that would hopefully give details regarding the trade of poisoned kunai. She found it in one of his vest pockets and gleefully pulled the paper from its hiding place.

She was tempted to open it now and discover another secret of the awful weapons that were taking the lives Konoha's shinobi, but that was a basic rule they all had learned. Never open a scroll you were sent to retrieve – that was the hokage's job, and only after the decoders had disarmed anything nasty waiting to jump out of it.

Satisfied, she glanced up. The other men lay dead at Kakashi's feet and a bloody kunai was in his hand.

He was watching her.

She turned her face to the right and lifted her arm to wipe the blood off her face. She stood and moved towards him. Since he was the team's captain, it would be his job to hand over the scroll.

Kakashi's visible eye was darkened by the excitement from the fight. Sakura could see his chest rise and fall with each quick breath he took. His gaze was narrowed in concentration, eyes flicking up and down her bloody figure.

When Sakura neared him she reached out with the scroll. "Your scroll, taichou." _Captain_. Something about that word sent a thrill through her.

He reached out and took the scroll from her, still eyeing her carefully. When his fingers brushed hers it was like a jolt of electricity.

Her green eyes finally narrowed. He was making this awkward. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked uncomfortably. "Did I do something inappropriate?"

Kakashi seemed to come out of the haze he was trapped in and shook his head to clear it from his mind. "No, actually you did that quite well. I've never seen you be quite so efficient before."

Sakura smiled and looked up at Kakashi from under her eyelashes. "It's been a while since I actually had to kill someone."

The elder jounin finally managed to regain his professional manner. "Well, we've got what we came for, why don't we head home?"

Sakura nodded in agreement and retrieved the packs they had stashed behind a nearby boulder.

The journey home went by more quickly than what Sakura was expecting, most likely because she was now familiar with the scenery they were passing. Because the fight hadn't lasted long, both shinobi had enough energy to make good time. Tree branches were flying by in a green blur and the passing shadows lulled Sakura into a quiet meditative state.

It was only early afternoon when the gates of Konoha appeared in front of them, welcoming them home.

They checked in with Ebizou who was dutifully manning the gate, and then headed for the hokage tower.

Tsunade was pleased with their success and eyed the scroll hopefully for a moment before reluctantly turning it over to the decoding team. She was about to dismiss them when Kakashi stopped her.

"You mentioned, hokage-sama, that these men were supposedly hired mercenaries, and while Sakura and I didn't have a difficult time dispatching them, there seemed to be more to them. They almost appeared to be ninja from Sound."

Tsunade's eyebrows rose in interest. "Sound? But we've hardly had any trouble with them since Orochimaru was killed."

Kakashi shrugged. "Perhaps I'm being paranoid."

"I'll take this under consideration. Kakashi, I'd like you to report back tomorrow since I may have another assignment for you. Sakura, you will continue your project to analyze the poison. Dismissed."

As they entered the hall Kakashi turned towards her. "Good job today. I'll see you around, ok?" He smiled, gently squeezed her shoulder, and headed down the hallway.

Sakura stood staring after him in shock. _Good job? That's new._ She stood still for a moment, staring into the darkness and absently rubbed her shoulder where she could still feel the warm grip of his hand.

Finally, she shrugged her shoulders and went to peer into the secretaries' office. She figured now was as good a time as any to check in with her mother. However, when she peaked into the room, she found it completely deserted.

Nariko's desk was completely cleaned off of the usual scatter of papers that accumulated during the day.

_Odd,_ thought Sakura. It seemed her mother hadn't been in at all today.

A trickle of unease ran through her. It wasn't like her mother to miss work.

_She probably just has a cold, calm down, _she scolded herself. The urge to check on her mother was growing stronger by the minute, but checking on her mother would mean running over to the house, and potentially encountering Hoshi. _Stop worrying and go home you idiot. She'll be back tomorrow._

Resolutely, Sakura headed out of the building with full intentions of returning to her own apartment. As she stepped out into the sunlight she took a deep breath and forced the remaining tension out of her shoulders.

Several of her vertebrae cracked loudly, making her jump. _Yikes. I have got to work on ways to de-stress a little better._

Her steps were taking her towards the town's center and the intersection she would turn down to reach her new place, but as she crossed the street that led to her childhood home, she paused, thoughtful.

Sakura knew she should check in with her mother, regardless of whether or not Hoshi was home, but could she really risk running into her father?

She debated for several more moments, shifting back and forth from foot to foot while she decided.

Finally, old habits won out. Haruno Sakura almost always tried to do the right thing, and the right thing in this case was to tell her mother that she was home.

With a sigh she turned towards her parent's home, anxiety growing every step of the way. If Hoshi was there, what would she say to him? The trip to the house was too short for her to come up with a good story as to why she was suddenly visiting, so finally she just decided to be honest. If Hoshi answered the door, she would respectfully ask him to pass along to Nariko that she had returned from her mission. And then she would turn around and leave. Quickly.

She paused at the front gate to gather her courage one last time before beginning her trip through the small garden and up to the house.

She knocked on the door with great trepidation, listening carefully for the sound of heavy footsteps that would indicate Hoshi was headed for the door. Her heart was beating so loudly in her chest she afraid she might mistake its thudding for her father's footsteps.

Sakura silently counted to thirty, and when no one answered, she knocked again, louder this time, and with more confidence.

Her mother had to be there, at least.

Sakura knocked a third time, although this time it felt more like banging. She gritted her teeth to keep her strength in check so she didn't beat down the door. If Nariko didn't answer the door this time, she was barging in regardless of whether or not Hoshi would be furious.

The house was eerily silent.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura reached for the door handle. She hadn't expected it to be unlocked, and surprise flickered across her features as the door swung easily open. It was dark inside, with all the curtains closed. She squinted, trying to force her eyes to adjust the low light as she took a hesitant step across the threshold.

A putrid smell, like raw fish that had sat out too long, stung her nostrils. Nariko had been ever cleaning the house to keep Hoshi happy, and she never would have allowed food to spoil like this. What was going on?

Sakura took another hesitant step and this time she almost tripped. She glanced down at her feet to see that the floor was a mess. Lamps and photos that had been sitting on the coffee tables and the mantle were strewn across the wooden floor along with glass from a shattered vase.

Fear tore into Sakura, and she drew a kunai from her pouch.

"Mom?" she called, her voice high with desperation.

"Mom? Are you home?"

Dodging the glass on the floor she began moving quickly through the rooms on the bottom floor. She could almost follow the trail of destruction that led from the living room to the dining room and finally into the kitchen.

Sakura threw the sliding door open with a slam and rushed into the cold, dark space. The putrid smell was stronger here and Sakura nearly gagged. Their kitchen had only one small shaded window that was currently covered by heavy curtains.

After a moment of fumbling along the wall, Sakura managed to locate the light switch, her hand was trembling in fear as she flipped it.

She blinked rapidly for a moment as light flooded the room, almost not seeing the horror in front of her. There was blood, nearly everywhere it seemed. There were smears across the wall and across the kitchen table and counters. Her eyes unwillingly followed the streaks of reddish brown, finally comprehending what was in front of her. On the ground, in front of the refrigerator, was a huge, mostly dry puddle of blood. And sitting in the middle of it was the crumpled body of her mother.

* * *

The review button is calling your name...


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Sadly, I am only the owner of a forlorn locker in the pharmacy breakroom at the hospital, and do not own Naruto...

A Different Path: Chapter 7

_Gone_.

The empty word echoed in Sakura's head.

Hoshi was gone.

Tsunade had confirmed it earlier in the day. The jounin had checked in with the hokage five days ago after returning from his latest mission. He had been pleased when Tsunade informed him he was up for a rotation of a few extra days off, and seemed in pleasant enough spirits as he left her office.

Sakura already knew that things had deteriorated at home between the time Tsunade had met with Hoshi and when she had healed her mother's bruises in the bathroom, but he must have killed Nariko the very afternoon that Sakura had gone stomping from her mother's office.

The young medic shuddered.

Her father had disappeared without a trace, and her mother was dead.

And Sakura knew she would never escape the guilt that came with abandoning her mother to the mercies of that terrible man.

She was curled into a ball underneath her covers, struggling to sleep, her body racked with shivers. No matter how many blankets she piled on, she just couldn't seem to get warm. The wonderful darkness would close in around her occasionally, only to pull back a short while later as her body began to shake again.

* * *

There were four jounin and an ANBU squad in Tsunade's office. Some stood erect, at attention, while others leaned against the wall in a more casual pose. The atmosphere in the room was decidedly tense and uncomfortable. Tsunade sat behind her desk, face grim and arms crossed across her chest.

She had been at the hospital yesterday when Sakura burst into the operating room where she was working, her face streaked with tears and her clothes covered in dried blood. She was hysterical, and her words were nearly incoherent. However, it had all made sense when Sakura drug her out into the hall where she had deposited Nariko's body.

Before Tsunade even touched the broken woman she knew it was too late. There was no sense of life left in Nariko, and from the smell, she had already begun to decompose.

Sakura took one look at the hopeless expression on Tsunade's face and slid down the wall to curl into a ball on the floor next to her dead mother. The only sound she could make was a tortured whimper.

Tsunade took a deep breath and began to brief the group gathered in her office.

"I'm sure you've all been informed of the murder of Haruno Nariko. Haruno Hoshi has since vanished from the village. We have no proof that he was the one who killed her, but I think we all know enough of Hoshi's temper to know it's the most likely possibility. I want him found, using any means necessary. I am changing his classification to missing-nin, so please act accordingly. We have no knowledge of his escape, so you will have to start searching from scratch. Each team will contact me with their progress in three days. Are there any questions?"

One of the ANBU answered for the group. "No, hokage-sama. We will meet at the main gate in half hour for a further briefing and then we will split into our respective teams." The black ops agent glanced at the assembled group, and when no one objected he turned back toward Tsunade. "With your leave, hokage-sama?"

She nodded tightly. "Dismissed!"

The eight shinobi vanished, leaving Tsunade alone in the darkened room, save one man.

Kakashi detached himself from the shadows in the corner of the office.

Tsunade glanced up, frustration and fatigue visible on her features. "I can't believe I just sent eight men chasing after that despicable man. My shinobi are dying everyday thanks to these damned poisoned kunai and I have to send some of my best fighters and trackers to bring that hateful bastard back to Konoha!"

Kakashi shrugged. "We have no choice. If we can't keep our own in line, then who can we control?"

The weary hokage sighed and leaned her elbows on her desk, resting her forehead in her hands. It was quiet for a moment and then she spoke again.

"How is she, Kakashi?"

He needed no name to understand who she was referring to.

"Once I got her home she went straight to bed. I asked if there was anything I could do for her, or anything she needed, but all she would do is shake her head no."

"I'm canceling all her shifts and missions until we get this straightened out. Sakura and her mother were close, I'm sure this is going to weight her down for a while."

"Yes, I think you're right." Kakashi had a brief flashback to his childhood when he had come home to find his father's dead body in their home.

He had never been the same.

Tsunade was continuing in a slightly more hesitant tone now. "I'll need Ino to take over a large portion of Sakura's work at the hospital, so she won't be able to check up on Sakura, and Naruto isn't expected back in the village for several months still." she looked up at the jounin suspiciously. "Will I be able to count on you to look in on Sakura while she puts herself back together?"

Kakashi nodded tightly. "Of course hokage-sama."

"Good. Please keep me informed of her status as she recovers." A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

"Ah, hokage-sama?" Called the voice of a chuunin. "There's a message for you from the daimyo. It's marked urgent."

Tsunade growled under her breath. Was there never any peace? "Get going and let me know how she's doing." She snapped at Kakashi.

He wasted no time and disappeared from the room as quickly as his comrades had a few minutes ago.

* * *

Kakashi sat in front of the memorial stone, his eyes tracing its ever-familiar edges. He had long ago memorized the lines of the stone as well as the names inscribed upon it.

Despite the long years that had passed the guilt from his early days as a jounin had never quite relinquished its tight grip on his heart. Whenever possible he made his daily pilgrimage to the stone to talk to Obito, although recently his visits had seemed more like meditation than honoring the dead.

There was something comforting for Kakashi as he stared at the fiery red stone. While Obito never answered him, Kakashi felt the Uchiha's spirit somehow managed to help him gain new perspective on his problems.

The cry of a bird overhead pulled the shinobi's attention away from the memorial. He blinked in surprise when he noticed how far across the sky the sun had journeyed. Noon had arrived more quickly than he expected.

He vaguely remembered the swirl of chaotic events that had surrounded his father's death, but he had tried to block most of it from his mind. Minato had quickly stepped in to handle funeral arrangements, the will, and the hearing that came following the suicide.

Other than understanding some of the anguish Sakura must be feeling, Kakashi had little idea how to handle his subordinate. Was Sakura crushed with despair? Was she angry? Would she try to lash out in revenge? He could only guess at her feelings. Sakura had been, and continued to be, a mystery to him in many ways.

His interaction with pre-teen girls had been limited to the few genin he had trained. He missed much of Sakura's transition into womanhood due to the large amount of time she had spent training with Tsunade, and now their time together usually involved strenuous missions. Women had baffled Kakashi for years. They always seemed to tell you the exact opposite of what they were thinking and then wanted to you figure out what exactly it was they were thinking about, so either way you had lost before you even started. Even when the jumped into claiming they were interested in only a quick romp they still pined for babies and frilly weddings. He had decided long ago that women required too much maintenance for him to ever want to settle down more permanently with one.

Although, he had to admit that Sakura was fairly low-maintenance. And she didn't mind a little violence or a bloodshed, either.

He sighed. The hokage had harangued him into checking on her, so he would. He'd made excuses to himself the day before as to why he didn't check on her. She needed some time to grieve, he kept telling himself. He'd give her that.

The next morning, however, he figured he couldn't put it off any longer. He'd hoped that he might run into her in the village at some point and that it would save him the trouble of going to check on her, but he'd had no such luck.

He figured he'd try her new apartment first, and if she wasn't there then perhaps the hospital or the market.

He found her new building without much trouble and climbed the stairs to the second story. Kakashi knocked. When he received no answer he knocked again.

Sakura's apartment was still quiet, but he could sense the low thrum of earthy chakra that denoted her presence. He debated leaving, and then realized in weighing the decision that either Tsunade would be furious at him for not following through and checking on her apprentice, or Sakura would be upset with him for barging into her apartment.

While Sakura had become quite fierce as of late, her wrath just couldn't quite compare to the hokage's.

He turned to the door, opened it, and stepped inside.

Shades were drawn across all the windows and the room was dark. He could see her living room where half-unpacked boxes sat shoved against the wall. Her kitchen appeared fairly tidy considering she had been living there only a few days.

The apartment smelled like vanilla, green tea, and faintly of the perfume Sakura wore on occasion.

Despite Kakashi's knowledge that she was in the apartment somewhere, if he hadn't felt her chakra he never would have believed it. He walked towards the closed door at the end of the hallway, guessing she was in her room.

Not only had she not left her apartment, she hadn't even made it out of bed.

He knocked softly.

"Sakura?"

There was no answer.

"Sakura, its me, Kakashi. I'm here to make sure that you're all right."

When it remained quiet he tentatively entered her room.

It was even darker in the bedroom than in the rest of the house. The room seemed slightly messy but not overly untidy. Sakura's bed sat in the middle of everything with a distinguishable lump under the covers.

Finally he heard a barely audible mumble in response. "I'm fine sensei. Please leave."

"Come on Sakura, you can't stay in bed all day long." He moved to sit on the side of her bed, the fluffy comforter sinking under his weight. It was red and silky looking, and it made a slithering noise when he sat on it.

"Go away." She muttered.

"I'm not going anywhere until you get out of bed and eat." He pulled the covers down to peer at her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were red from her salty tears. Her hair was matted and dark purple circles were visible under her eyes.

"Please Kakashi-sensei, I don't want you to see me like this." She tried to roll away, but he firmly planted his hand on her shoulder and turned her towards him.

"If I leave now you'll never get up. Its after noon, you have to get up for a little while. Besides, I bet you've been in bed for almost two days."

Her green eyes narrowed in anger and she glowered at him for a moment before forcefully turning away. "No."

"Get up or I'm going to pick you up and plunk you in the bathtub, clothes and all."

She grumbled, and then began to pull herself up slowly. The light coming into her room from the hallway seemed bright and she blinked her eyes against it. After moving to a sitting position she swung her body towards the side of bed and placed her feet on the tatami floor. Wobbling, she slowly tried to lift her weight. She took one shaky step from the bed and would have collapsed, but Kakashi was there to catch her.

Sakura turned her face away from him, not wanted to see his reaction to her weakness. Her bed called out to her, welcoming her back into its warmth and the shelter it provided from the world. She moaned painfully and strained towards the bed. "Let me go."

"Come on Sakura. You're tougher than this."

"Not anymore. I don't want to be tough anymore. I don't deserve it. I'm a failure."

His fingers curved around her chin and he angled her face towards his. "You are not a failure. None of this was your fault. Don't go blaming yourself."

"But if I'd been there, if I'd never moved out, he never would have hurt her. I should have protected her, but I was too busy being selfish and thinking that I just needed out of there!"

"You can't conjecture like that Sakura, you can't guess what would and wouldn't have happened if you'd done things differently. Don't let the guilt take over. It will ruin your life." She watched a shadow pass over his face and wondered at his words. Kakashi certainly his own array of awful life experiences. "Come on, let me help you get cleaned up."

She let herself go limp in his arms as he carried her into the bathroom. He set her on the closed toilet and began to draw a warm bath for her. She watched him carefully as he moved efficiently about the bathroom, huddled on the toilet in her flannel pants, a camisole, and the pink blanket embroidered with cherry blossoms she had cherished as a child. When the bath had filled and steam was rising from the clean, clear water, Kakashi turned back to her.

"Get in, Sakura. Call me if you need help." his voice was somewhat gruff as he quickly left the small, steamy room and shut the door behind him.

Once he was safely in the hallway he leaned against the wall. Sakura was in bad shape. If she had been feeling at all like herself she would have punched him the moment he said anything about helping her into the bathtub.

He felt disgust fill him at the thought of Sakura's father. He had never expected the violence to escalate so far. Sakura was devastated.

He rubbed a hand down his face. He knew he had failed to be there in the past in the way that his students had needed him, and he was determined to be there for Sakura now. It had taken her years to recover from Sasuke's betrayal and he refused to see her fall back into the depression that accompanied being abandoned.

With that thought in mind, he moved to her kitchen to see if he could put his meager cooking skills to use. He found a box of green tea and filled her teapot with water and placed it on the stove to begin heating. There was some rice left in her fridge that still smelled okay so he set about making some rice balls. Finally, he found a pot and heated dashi stock from the fridge and then mixed in a scoop of miso paste. The final step was to add the pre-cut chunks of tofu that he had unearthed from a fridge drawer. Soon the food was warm and he was wondering how Sakura was fairing in the bathroom.

When he knocked on the door there was no response.

"Sakura?" he called. Silence. He waited a moment. Maybe her head was underwater.

"Sakura?" he called again. Still no answer, and no noise of splashing water either. It was deathly quiet in the bathroom. Fearing the worst, he burst in through the door to see if she was okay. How could he have been so stupid as to leave her alone?

He drew up short in the bathroom. She was sitting up in the tub, her knees drawn to her chest. Tears were falling down her cheeks as she tried to keep herself from shaking. Her hair was wet, so she had at least managed to dunk herself in the water, but he didn't think she had made it to the shampoo yet.

"Sakura?" he asked more gently

"I...I'm sorry." she whispered. She couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. "I…I just couldn't seem to…" she trailed off. This was so ridiculously awkward. What had Tsunade been thinking, sending Kakashi to check on her.

"Why don't I help you wash your hair?" he asked quietly. Crying women had never been his specialty, and he squelched the urge to turn tail and run.

She nodded bleakly.

He was relieved to see that with her knees drawn up to her chest her body was hidden from his view. He knelt beside the tub on the floor and reached for a cup from the edge of the sink. Her feminine shampoo pooled in his hand in creamy green puddle when he squeezed the bottle. He moved his hand to her head and began to rub it in gently. Her wet hair was cool against his fingers, but even through the dampness he could tell that its pink strands would be silky and soft when dry. The shampoo smelled like flowers and the scent filled his nostrils. He recognized the scent that he could often smell faintly during training with Sakura.

The shampoo lathered nicely against his hand and he rubbed it into her scalp. After a few minutes of washing he picked up the cup and filled it with water.

"Tilt your head back so I can rinse out the shampoo."

Sakura obeyed.

She felt the warmth of the water cascade over her head and down the long strands of her pink hair. The change in sensation from the constant cold she was feeling made her shudder. Kakashi steadied her with a hand on her shoulder and then repeated the motion until the shampoo was gone. Finally, he reached for the conditioner.

The silky substance dispersed easily through Sakura's hair and when he rinsed it away her pink strands were left clean and soft. Kakashi found he enjoyed the sensation of running his hands through her hair and pulled away from her before the action became inappropriate. He grabbed the towel from where he had tossed it earlier and held it in front of him for Sakura.

She climbed carefully out of the tub and he wrapped it around her shivering body. Her pain-filled green eyes blinked up at him. He sighed and pulled her to him. Her head fit nicely under his chin as her head rested against his chest.

As the now familiar scent of her hair products filled his nose he realized that he had never been quite this close to his student before. His usual inclination towards detachment was tugging at him to leave, but he quelled the urge and held Sakura close instead. She needed him, and he wouldn't abandon her.

He rocked her against him for a minute and then rubbed his hands quickly up and down her towel wrapped sides, trying to warm her. "Sakura, let's find you some clean clothes, ok?"

She nodded.

He led her from the bathroom and back into her dark bedroom, flipping on the light as he entered. He sat her on the edge of the bed as he began rummaging for socks, undergarments, and a clean pair of sweats.

She watched blankly, giving him no direction as to where the items of clothing she needed could be found.

After several minutes of searching he managed to come up with a clean set of socks, underwear, a bra, black sweat pants and a dark gray sweater.

"Do you need help dressing?" he asked. She shook her head no. Kakashi had seen enough of her this morning to last them both for quite a while. The hot water seemed to have penetrated the haze surrounding her and she was finally starting to feel a small trickle of embarrassment about needing quite so much help.

"I'll be in the kitchen when you're done. You have five minutes before I come back in here and dress you, so don't even think about climbing back into bed." he moved to the door and down the hall.

In the kitchen he set about re-heating everything he had found for her to eat. After a few moments he heard her bedroom door shut and Sakura soon came padding into the kitchen in her socks.

"Here. Sit down and eat something." Kakashi told her. He put his hand on her back and moved her into the living room, directing her to sit on the couch. He returned to the kitchen and poured two cups of tea, then placed the rice balls on a plate and poured the miso soup into a bowl. He first carried the tea cups into the living room, followed by the rice and miso soup.

"Eat up." He said.

She reached tentatively for a rice ball and took a bite. Kakashi watched her chew carefully and then swallow. She took a few more bites before raising the bowl of soup to her lips. After she had a long sip she carefully placed the bowl back on the table. For the first time that day her eyes seemed to focus on Kakashi.

Her voice came quietly. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." She said nothing else, not sure if she was truly grateful for being forcefully pulled from her bed.

"You're welcome." he replied.

* * *

Yay, finally an update! this chapter needed a lot of editing, but I started feeling bad when someone offered their firstborn in exchange for an update...

Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Alright, sorry for the long delay everyone. My husband is going to grad school this fall and that necessitated us moving 1200 miles across the country. As you can imagine, life has been a little hectic! However, my computer is up and running and there's even a clear spot on my desk- so hopefully there will be more to come soon! Happy reading!

As always, I do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form. Just borrowing!

* * *

**Chapter 8**

The days passed slowly for Sakura. Each one, every step, was another obstacle to overcome.

She dutifully pulled herself out of bed each morning, and, putting one foot in front of the other, made her way to way to the kitchen.

It was the same food, day after day. Miso soup, plain white rice, broiled fish, tea.

She couldn't seem to focus enough on what she was doing to care that is was the same. She clung desperately to her routine. In a world where she had shut everything else out, she needed the monotony and the comfort of knowing that the next morning she would rise and do it all over again just the same.

Kakashi came once a week to check on her, and other than seeing that she was clothed, fed, clean, and still alive, he left her to her own devices.

Shikamaru had come to visit her, on more than one occasion. His body offered warmth and a small feeling of acceptance and comfort. She often wondered, in the aftermath of their brief trysts, if what she was doing with him was wrong. However, she couldn't quite bring herself to care. She had been surprised at how responsive her body still was to his touch. She was so numb, how was it possible for those few brief moments of pleasure to get through? It all seemed very strange. It seemed even stranger still that she watched herself through a faint haze, as though a sheer curtain had been pulled between her conscious and unconscious self.

She'd tried to begin reading through the large pile of medical journals that had accumulated in the living room, but the words had blurred together on the page.

Her sunny apartment was spotless save for the dust accumulating on the flat surfaces, not because she had been cleaning it, but because making messes required energy that she simply did not possess.

She spent long hours gazing out the windows and down onto the street. She didn't like to look at the interior of the apartment for too long because it reminded her of all the wonderful things her mother had done for her and it made her faintly sick to her stomach.

It had been a month since her mother's death when Kakashi came to check on her that day, making his weekly rounds. Sometimes Sakura wondered what exactly Tsunade had threatened him with to make him keep coming.

He knocked loudly and then entered her home without hesitation.

She was seated at the dining room table, staring blankly into her tea. She looked up and managed a faint smile.

"Hello Kakashi." she said quietly.

"Sakura." he said, nodding politely. He scrutinized her for a moment, gaze wandering over her body to ensure that she hadn't lost too much weight. Then he leaned back against her kitchen counter and sighed.

"What is it?" she asked warily, knowing something was coming that she might not like.

"I think you've had enough time to sit in here and wallow. It's time to rejoin the land of the living."

"How?" was all she could think to ask.

"Come outside and train with me." his voice was quiet.

"Train?" the concept seemed almost foreign to her. And how could she train after a month of hardly any physical activity whatsoever? Her strength and her musculature had completely deteriorated.

"I don't think that's such a good idea." she finally responded after a long silence.

Kakashi's voice was harsh now. "You don't have a choice. Either you can come with me of your own free will or I can throw you over my shoulder and carry you. I hope you're not thinking about resigning as a shinobi."

The implication was clear in his voice. If she didn't start training again soon she would begin to loose all of her skills. It would equate to being a genin all over again.

Sakura's eyes widened. Being a ninja was something she had worked towards for years. It was one of the few things she felt she had left. There was no way she letting it go.

"Let me go change clothes." she muttered and headed for her bedroom. She had no desire to go outside, into the harsh sunlight, and strain her tired muscles. She wanted to whine like a child until Kakashi vanished from her apartment, or until he became so frustrated with her that he sent her home. But, a little tiny part of her wanted to sob at the idea of no longer being a shinobi. It would be the final blow to her fragile psyche.

So, to training she went.

* * *

Sakura placed a hand on her forehead to shield some of the sun from her eyes. It was ridiculously bright outside despite it being rather chilly. She had on black leggings with her usual medic's skirt. She also wore her traditional red tank top but had tugged on a warm turtleneck underneath it this time.

She was eying Kakashi warily. He'd sent her out to the training grounds while he made a quick stop at the equipment shed located on the academy grounds a few hundred yards away.

When he returned, he carried two bokken.

Sakura had never had much luck with katana. They required movements that were faster and more calculated than was her usual style, and while she was certainly more coordinated than she had been as a genin, carrying a sword just didn't seem like a good idea for her.

"Ummm, Kaka-sensei?" she questioned softly as he neared her.

"Yes?" he asked innocently.

"Have you ever seen me use a katana before?" she was desperately hoping that refreshing his memory would be enough to make him change his mind.

"Yes, I have. That's why we're going to do this little exercise." His eye creased as he smiled.

Sakura glared at him and reminded herself that the deepest pit of hell had been reserved especially for him.

"Now, since you're so inexperienced with the katana we're going to start with the basics. Please watch what I do and then repeat the movement." He was positioned in a fighter's stance with one leg extended towards the front and the knee bent, and the rest of his weight balanced on his extended back leg. With a deft motion Kakashi raised the bokken over his head with both arms and then slashed quickly down in front of himself.

"This is where all katana training starts. Before you may move farther, you must master the basic swing. You try."

Sakura knew the bokken to be light, lighter than a real katana would be, but these must have had some special jutsu on them because her wooden weapon felt at least as heavy as its metal counterpart would have been. She gritted her teeth, took the proper stance, and lifted it over her head. When she was her balance was stable she slashed downward in front of her.

"Not bad." Kakashi commented. "Do ten more and we'll see how it's working for you."

"Yes sensei." she replied, grimacing internally. She really did feel like a genin again. They had done these simple exercises over and over at the academy. Was it really necessary for Kakashi to start her back at the basics again?

She dutifully performed the exercise, noticing that her arms seemed to be getting a little tired.

"Very nice. Now, I want you to do that 100 more times."

Kakashi seemed far more nonchalant than he should have been. Another hundred arm swings was on the top of Sakura's "Exercises I Hate" list. She narrowed her eyes at him and began, steeling herself against the burning pain that had started in her muscles. No way was she going to give Kakashi the satisfaction of seeing her arms shake with weakness.

"And Sakura, no cheating." Kakashi admonished.

This time her gaze was a full glare, but she dutifully continued her exercises. Of course she wouldn't have cheated with chakra.

Kakashi seemed determined to demonstrate how one month away from any physical activity did serious damage to one's strength. After the arm swings it was time for running. As opposed to when her training with Kakashi when she was twelve, he ran with her in the long laps around the outer wall of the village. He set a moderate pace and chatted casually at her the whole way, pointedly ignoring all of her own huffing and puffing as her body voiced its displease and being forced into such action.

It seemed they ran forever. They had been at it for two hours with no breaks, and Sakura was feeling like she would collapse at any moment, when Kakashi finally slowed their pace.

She watched him warily, awaiting his next torturous instructions, but he merely smiled and said, "Good job today. We'll add some more exercises on tomorrow, but I think you'll be sore enough tonight as it is."

"So, are we done for today then, sensei?" She questioned cautiously, just to make sure.

"Yes, we are. Go home and rest, I think you're going to need it. I'll see you here tomorrow, these same training grounds, at eight."

"Are you going to be late?" Sakura asked stiffly.

Kakashi appeared to think for a moment. "I don't see any reason why I would be..."

Sakura snorted and then turned to go. "We'll see." she called over her shoulder.

The first thing Sakura did when she got home was limp to the bathroom. Her face was still flushed with exertion and her arms and legs were shaking. After scrutinizing her appearance from underneath her sweaty bangs she gingerly began removing her clothing so she could take a shower. She was purposely trying not to think about how out of shape she was.

When she was clean she toweled her hair dry and went to the kitchen to fix a quick dinner. After shoving some much needed food down her throat she collapsed into bed.

Tomorrow would come all too soon.

The next day brought more of the same training exercises. More arm swings, an extra lap around the village, and this time they added push-ups and sit-ups to the drill.

The third day of her re-training with Kakashi they added yet another lap around the village and did squats and lunges followed by the calisthenics from the day before. The arms swings seemed to be getting routine, and she hoped, despite her dislike of katana, that they would advance past those soon.

Each day they added another few exercises to the training, and after a week Kakashi allowed her to add a forward thrust with the katana in addition to her now 300 arm swings.

After two weeks of this Sakura was finally beginning to feel a little better about herself. She had to start eating more simply because her body couldn't keep up with the calories she had been burning on a daily basis. Every night she plodded home, teetering on her feet, and forced herself into the shower. Her arms were so sore it hurt to lift them to wash her hair. Her legs burned when she climbed up steps from training grounds and she would have to pull herself along on the railing. Her abdominal muscles would scream when she tried to roll over at night.

Sakura became used to being sore all the time. It seemed to be the only way, and the only focus of her life right now. Sleep, eat, run, practice with her bokken, calisthenics, more running, and finally she would stumble home for dinner, go to bed, and get up and do it all again the next day.

After a month she noticed that the definition had returned to her muscles. She could almost stay with Kakashi when they ran together. She had at least gained back enough of her old strength that could keep her thoughts together when they ran.

The first two weeks of running had left her as nothing but a panting, sweaty mess with barely a coherent thought. Bit by bit however, like with the slow strengthening of her muscles, she was able to suck enough air into her lungs to keep her brain running in addition to her legs.

Kakashi was running next to her now. As usual he was hardly winded despite the breakneck pace he had set. They were only on their third lap around the village, but Sakura's thoughts had started to wander. She was not in good enough shape yet to maintain conversation, although she was sure her tai cho could have managed just fine.

Their running had settled into a familiar pattern that they fell into easily on a daily basis.

In the previous two months the chilly spring had turned nearly into summer. Sakura had traded her leggings and turtleneck for black cotton shorts and a matching sleeveless tank. She had gloves and basic body amour in a pile at the training ground, waiting for her return, along with her boots. Regular sandals graced her feet at the moment. The morning sun warmed her back and she could feel the sweat trickling down her neck. Her hair was wet from the sweat.

It felt like it had been so long since her body had run like the well-oiled machine she had originally trained it to be, but thanks to Kakashi's pushing she was growing stronger everyday. Stronger even than when she had taken the jounin exam originally.

_Stronger on the outside, at least_. She thought to herself. Sakura had shoved all thoughts of her mother into one compartment and then walled off the space in her brain. Any and all thoughts of Nariko were not allowed. Thoughts of Hoshi were only allowed when the bokken was in her hand. The idea of his pathetic, whimpering form, huddled on the ground before her in fear, had been the source of much motivation in the last two months.

The black-ops teams still reported in to Tsunade on a frequent basis, but Hoshi was not a jounin for nothing. Other than a few small traces and trails that led to nothing, he seemed to have disappeared completely.

Sakura no longer cried herself to sleep at night. She no longer huddled under her covers, either in pain or in fear of the pain that had seemed so close at first.

Sakura was determined to be strong once again.

* * *

The summer air blew like a furnace through the village. Sakura resigned herself to a long day of sweltering in her Jounin uniform, grabbed her pack, and headed towards the hokage tower.

"Enter." Came the voice from inside Tsunade's office when she knocked.

Sakura eased the door open and peered inside. Tsunade seemed to be alone for the time being. Sakura walked into the room confidently and stopped in front of the desk.

"Good morning, shishou."

"Sakura, good morning." Tsunade eyed her speculatively. "How are you feeling today?"

"I'm fine." She responded tersely. "I'm perfectly capable of taking on a mission."

The hokage looked Sakura over for another moment, noting the confidence in her stance and the fact she appeared to have gained a little weight after losing so much a few months ago. Her eyes, however, still had a faintly haunted appearance. Tsunade sighed. She couldn't wait any longer to send Sakura back out into the field.

"Here's your scroll. You will meet your teammates at the gate this afternoon. Everything you need to know about the mission is in your scroll, but I'll cover the basics for you now. This is an A-ranked mission. You will be traveling into Rice country on an intelligence mission. Someone has been stirring up trouble in one of the small villages. It seems mundane but I have a bad feeling about the implications behind it. You know how much of Rice is really controlled by Sound. Konoha is technically friendly with Rice, so you shouldn't have to cover your tracks too much as you travel, but I'm leaving it up to your team leader to decide how much discretion is necessary when searching for information."

"Yes shishou." She replied.

"You're dismissed. And Sakura? Good luck."

The kunoichi turned and moved towards the door. Suddenly, there was a loud poof behind her and she whirled to see Kakashi standing a few feet away.

"Hello Sakura." He said, his visible eye creased in a lazy smile.

"Tai cho." She replied quietly and then slipped out the door.

Kakashi turned his attention back to Tsunade. "Well?"

Tsunade sighed. "She's going with you." She paused. "I don't know if this is a good idea or not, but we've tried everything else. She needs some outside exposure to really push her. I worry that every day I keep her here, wondering if she's coping, will only make her worse."

"Do you really think it will help her to get out of Konoha?"

"I don't know. I've been waiting to see some spark of her personality in her, and there's nothing. She seems driven enough from what you've told me about her training sessions, but she's gotten quieter. I'm hoping you will have better luck than me in drawing out of the shell she's crawled into."

"She's going to have to face up to Nariko's death at some point instead of just ignoring it." He replied shortly.

"Yes, well, keep an eye on her."

Sakura returned home to pack and then set out for the gate at the appropriate time. It felt good to have her uniform on again, even if it was rather warm for the summer months. She glanced at herself in the mirror, a pleased expression on her face, as she strapped her newly acquired katana to her belt. Kakashi must have known that a mission was in the works for her as he had persuaded her to visit the weapons master.

_For training._ He had said at the time, and nudged her along to the weapons room in the basement of the hokage tower.

She had to admit it felt good to slide the carefully honed steel into place in its black sheath.

Either her tai cho had bribed the weapon's master after she left or the old coot had taken a liking to her. The sheath was in the appropriate standard issue black that most nin carried, but there was a delicate pattern of pink petals trailing down one side that was definitely _not_ standard issue. They were obviously hand painted - the inside of the petals was the palest shade of pink that gradually darkened toward the edges and the attention to detail was incredible.

Sakura sighed. It was time to go.

Tsunade had not said who her teammates would be and she was anxious to find out. When she arrived it appeared that she was the first of the group. To kill time she sat and talked to Izumo, who was stationed in his usual spot, monitoring the activity moving in and out of the village.

"So, an A-ranked mission, huh Sakura?" he asked smiling.

"Yeah. It still seems strange to be a jounin."

He chucked her under the chin. "I figured you would make it. After, well…everything, you got so determined I figured you'd never turn back."

A voice spoke from behind her. "Sakura!" a voice called from behind her. She turned to see Genma approaching. "Is Tsunade finally going to let you out of the village?" he grinned.

"Yes, she is. I was rather surprised myself."

"Tsunade only told me we'd be getting a new addition to our team for this mission. I sure wasn't thinking it would be you."

"What, you didn't think I would be up for this?" she asked him.

"Well, actually…" he trailed off as Sakura landed a stinging punch to his arm. He noticed that while it was friendly, there was no smile to accompany it.

"So, who else is joining us?"

"There's going to be four of us. You, me, Yamato, and Kakashi."

Sakura's ears perked. "Both Yamato and Kakashi are coming with us?" Sakura blinked in surprise. "Doesn't that seem like a bit much for a reconnaissance mission?"

Genma waggled his eyebrows at her. "I'm sure someone's still a little concerned about sending you on a mission." Then his expression brightened and he slapped her on the back. "I'm sure you won't fall flat on your face." His smirk turned into a big grin. "But if you do happen to trip, I'll be around to catch you."

Sakura was just turning to deliver a punch Genma would never forget when a voice broke into her thoughts.

"Yo."

Kakashi was standing a few feet away.

"Why didn't you say you were coming with me, Kakashi?" Sakura questioned.

Kakashi thought he could see a faint glimmer of interest and excitement in her eyes. She was finally, slowly, starting to come around.

He winked at her and said, "I didn't want to get your hopes up about the mission."

"Oh, of course." She looked thoughtful for a moment, but the blank look that had become commonplace for her returned as Yamato arrived.

Kakashi gave everyone a briefing about where they were heading and who would travel where, and then they set off through the trees with all the lithe grace only ninjas could possess.

Stray rays of sun filtered through the leaves, leaving patches of light that the shinobi flashed through, creating a strobe-like effect on Sakura's face. The earth smelled green and fresh, partially from the rain they'd had early that morning. Luckily, most of the tree branches they landed on had dried in the sun.

The air moving past her face and ruffling her hair helped Sakura focus on the task at hand. They would travel today until reaching the border between Fire and Rice countries. They would spend the evening there, camped, readying themselves to travel more inconspicuously the next day.

_What could possibly be conspicuous about three men and one pink-haired woman?_ Sakura thought wryly in her head.

Sakura would put a henge on herself – they had yet to decide what for sure the henge would look like and she was a little concerned about what Genma would come up with. Then, in the morning, Genma and Yamato would set out as simple travelers on the road and Kakashi and Sakura would follow a few hours later, traveling as bother and sister. They had rendezvous points and times set up in the village where they would seek their information.

Recently a plethora of the poisoned kunais had begun showed up in various enemy village hands.

Too many Konoha shinobi had died this way already, and now they were determined to figure out if Sound was behind this or not.

Despite having Genma along, they were surprisingly focused as they moved toward their destination. Sakura's legs began to protest after about two hours of traveling through the trees, but she merely steeled herself against the pain and kept moving.

After one more hour of travel they reached a clearing about three miles from the border. They efficiently split up the duties of setting up their camp. Yamato built a fire ring and began gathering logs and twigs while Genma set up their bed rolls and Sakura went to a nearby stream for water. Kakashi had gone off into the trees to scout around the area and make sure there was no imminent danger.

As the sun drifted toward the horizon the warm atmosphere began to cool. The air was still and the leaves on the trees hung quietly. Darkness had not yet begun to seep through the thick trees and so Sakura had plenty of light for her journey to the crystal clear stream. The four canteens slung over her shoulder bounced against her thigh as she walked. She smiled when she saw the moving water in front of her. It ran, cool, over her hands as she dipped the canteens one by one into the stream. She allowed herself a moment of peace to relax. The setting sun created a sense of magic as the last evening calls of various birds sounded through the trees and the scent of moss, pine, sage, and the distant campfire filled her senses. Sakura let the feeling of nature sink into her body. For a few brief moments she was able to forget.

She could forget the tragedies of the past, the horrors that she had seen. She could forget her longing for her former teammates and her mother, forget the loneliness that threatened to close in around her when she was home. She could forget her fear – that even now, after thousands of hours of training, she would still be weak. The weakest member of the group, the one that had to be protected. She could leave her guilt behind.

Her sense of surrounding chakra tingled, and she realized that Kakashi was near, probably on his way back to camp after scouting. In her peaceful state she recognized this fact and then passed over it to continue her moment of clear mental focus.

He stood on the other side of the small creek, watching her. He had seen the flash of pink from a distance and figured that Sakura had come to the water to refill their canteens. Since he was satisfied with the lack of other human presences in the area, he had decided to head back to camp. He had intended to cross the water to reach Sakura, but he had come up short when he reached the bank.

She had knelt on the ground on the opposite side of the creek. The canteens lie forgotten on the ground beside her and her hands drifted in the water. Her eyes were closed and her face was lowered. He could see her shoulders rise and fall with her deep breathing. She seemed calm, calmer than he had ever seen her. In her serene state she was breathtakingly beautiful. Her pink hair had been lightened by the sun so the cotton candy color was closer to a pale pink. She had let it grow, too busy to cut it, and now it was in a thick braid that hung down past her shoulder blades. Her skin was pale and smooth, though he knew that under her long sleeves and pants her body was crisscrossed with telltale scars. Her eyes were the same intriguing aqua green color they had been in her childhood but they were now filled with grim knowledge of all the horrors humanity was capable of committing.

He realized that despite her steady improvements, determination, and loyalty, he had continued to view her as a child who just happened to be on his team and wearing a jounin uniform. Watching emotions play across her face, Kakashi suddenly began to see her differently. Sakura was a kunoichi, and a good one at that. He had witnessed her strength, both physically and emotionally, in several situations. His naive student had grown up, and in her place was a strong, intelligent woman. He knew that the events of the last year had changed her forever.

He did not wish to disturb her and was about to head downstream to cross when her green eyes flicked open. Her intense gaze met his across the stream from under her eyelashes.

Her eyes were filled with curiosity as he stepped slowly out onto the water towards her. Her heart thumped more loudly in her chest at his proximity and her skin tingled as he approached her.

He crossed the water in a few strides and then Kakashi knelt in front of her. She looked at him questioningly. "What is it?"

"Are you alright, Sakura?" he asked quietly.

She smiled tentatively back. "Yes, I'm fine." His hand came toward her head and she braced herself for the tug on her braid she had become accustomed to. Her body tensed in surprise when instead of a tug she felt his fingers gently slip a few loose strands of hair behind her ear.

She blinked.

"Good." He replied. "Now, get those canteens back to camp so we can eat."

"Of course, tai cho." Sakura mumbled, grabbing the canteens and heading for the warm glow of the fire. As she walked away from him Sakura glanced over her shoulder at Kakashi. He was watching her.

* * *

Now it's time for everyone's favorite activity: Reviewing!

Hope to have more out for you soon, but until then help keep me motivated


	9. Chapter 9

Happy Thanksgiving everyone - please enjoy the update! I of course do not own Naruto and am just playing with the characters.

* * *

Chapter 9

Someone pulled a collapsible pot from their pack and set about boiling the water. Each shinobi dutifully pulled their package of cup ramen from their stowed food and gathered around the fire to wait. Darkness was easing its way into the camp and Sakura was glad that their beds were all ready for them. Finally the water began to boil and they set into dinner with fervor.

Kakashi sat on the hard ground and leaned against a nearby tree. The bark dug into his back but not enough to be painful. The look in Sakura's eyes when he had touched her hair flashed before him. She had been surprised at his tenderness. Had he not always shown a tender spot for his only female student? He was concerned about her.

She had recovered quite a bit from the shivering, guilty mess she had been shortly after her mother's death, but Sakura had changed. Her usually optimistic spirit was gone, and all her hardened practically, gained from her long hours at the hospital and recent strenuous training, had taken over.

Kakashi's thoughts were brought abruptly back to the present when Genma burped loudly.

"Ahhhh. Nothing like cup ramen when you're on a mission!" he exclaimed.

"You're almost as bad as Naruto." Yamato spoke up.

"Hey! At least I'm not quite that immature."

Their banter continued for a few minutes while Kakashi watched quietly from the other side of the fire. He had his nose in his book as usual, but for once he wasn't paying a lot of attention to what he was reading.

It was nice to have the extra company of Genma and Yamato on this mission. Their scouting and reconnaissance skills would come in handy. He hoped that Sakura would be able to work her way into the medical community in addition to visiting with some of the women from around town while he frequented the known shinobi meeting areas. Someone had to know something about the kunai. Weapons of this caliber didn't appear out of nowhere.

He glanced up when he heard the puff of air indicating that someone was performing a jutsu. When it cleared he could see that Sakura no longer sat by the fire but instead a mousy, quiet looking girl with dark brown hair had taken her place.

Genma scrunched up his nose in distaste and the brown haired girl shook her fist at him in warning. Another puff of smoke and the girl this time was a beautiful blonde with shimmering hair that cascaded down her back. She blinked up at them from underneath long eyelashes and smiled.

Genma whistled, this time earning a face full of dirt for his impropriety.

The game continued for several more minutes and Sakura's henges got more and more outrageous. Yamato was even laughing, indulging in the simple happiness of the moment.

"So, what are you really going to do to yourself? We probably aught to know who to look for." Genma finally stated in between snorts of laughter.

Sakura looked thoughtful for a moment, and then she reached up and touched her hair. They watched in amazement as Sakura's image wavered in front of them, hazy. When it finally solidified the men saw streaks of black slowly moving through her hair, each strand turning darker and darker until her pink hair was completely masked.

Her facial features had all lengthened just a tiny bit, enough to make her look a little like Sakura, but not enough to be easily recognizable. With her newly darkened hair she would blend in easily as a civilian.

She smiled. "The best lies are the ones closest to the truth."

She looked hopefully at Kakashi.

"Looks good, Sakura. I think that will be fine." Kakashi commented.

As the fire began to die down later in the evening they rolled out their sleeping bags around the flames and settled in to rest.

There was no light from the moon that night and their camp slowly darkened as the embers in the fire pit burned themselves out.

Sakura was tucked into her warm bedroll with her eyes closed. She waited patiently for sleep to come, but half an hour later she was still wide awake. She tossed restlessly in her bag.

The medic resisted the urge to squint into the darkness and see if her comrades were all asleep, and instead she reached out with her chakra to sense the presences around her. She had half wondered if Genma would snore as loud as Naruto, but most shinobi who had that problem broke it early in their training. Snore and be killed or sleep silently and make it through the night? The choice was obvious.

With a huff of breath Sakura rolled over once again to try to sleep, this time running into a long hard object.

Her bokken.

She had hinted to Kakashi that if he was serious about continuing her swordsmanship training, she would need a real katana. But, he had simply blinked at her and changed the topic. Maybe she could scrounge up a practicing katana in the village where they would be staying.

As her thoughts began to wander towards what kind of katana she would like to have, sleep crept in slowly until Sakura faded away to a light slumber.

The next morning the sun was bright when they split up. Sakura and Kakashi moved towards the village at a steady walking pace. Their movements were unhurried and Sakura allowed herself to relax for a few moments as the sun beat down onto their backs. The light reflected off her long dark hair and she tossed it over her shoulder in frustration.

She knew the man walking next to her was Kakashi, but with the henge in place it was awfully hard to tell. His hair was now dark and shaggy, some of it hanging in his brown eyes. His face was mostly visible, though she knew the shape and features were different from those of her sensei. His chin was obscured by the ratty scarf wound around his neck.

"Taichou, what do you think we're going to find?" she asked.

"Well, best case scenario we'll find that the kunai coming through Rice are just that – kunai with no poison…but, if Tsunade really thought that were the case she wouldn't have called it an A-rank mission. Worst-case scenario we find that Sound has been behind the poisoned kunai. If that's what's happening then we'll do our best to pin down what the main source is in Rice, and how deep Sound's involvement really is."

"I see. So, where do we start?"

"Well, you and I will be long-term visitors to the village, and we'll see what we can learn. We'll report back to Tsunade every few days so she can keep up with our progress."

"And we're brother and sister? What are our names?"

He pointed to himself. "Toshi Hisoka, and you're Toshi Kiku. Our parents died about three years ago and you are I are the last of our clan. We're looking for a new place to settle. I'm looking for a job, and you want to help out at the local clinic."

Sakura stretched her arms over her head. "Sounds good, taichou." She remembered from previous trips that the journey to Rice usually wasn't very long, but since they were limited to a walk, this particular journey seemed to be dragging on longer than what she would have preferred. The trees had thinned out as they moved out of fire country and the day was much hotter with less shade. She could feel the sweat trickling down her neck and running down her back under the simple cotton yukata she wore.

Despite the fact that Kakashi was, as usual, covered from head to toe, he seemed completely oblivious to the warm, humid heat shifting around them. _Does the man ever sweat? _Sakura wondered crossly.

"We should reach our destination within the next couple hours. Once we're there we have to find the housing Tsunade arranged for us. It doesn't sound like it will be much, but that's all right."

"Do we at least get furniture?" she grumbled.

Kakashi chuckled next to her. "I think we might at least get a couple beds."

Half an hour later the road broadened into a wide meadow and the small village was nestled at the lowest point. Rice paddies abounded and several people in straw hats could be seen wading in the shallow water.

Sakura studiously kept her gaze to herself as they passed and soon enough she and Kakashi were entering the village. The commercial section was smaller than in Konoha, but it bustled with daily activity. Overhead women were hanging laundry in the sun, and children ran gleefully through the streets. Delicious smells from the nearby food stands wafted on the breeze and Sakura's stomach growled hungrily after only the cup ramen the evening before.

Kakashi seemed to know where he was headed and before long he was speaking with a kind-looking old woman. He bowed respectfully and then she showed them up the tight set of stairs next to her small shop. A green door at the top of the steps opened into a small apartment.

"Two keys, one for each of you. Two bedrooms down that hall, kitchen there." The landlady pointed out the different areas of the apartment, handed them the keys, and then left.

Sakura stretched luxuriously and piled the long dark hair onto the top of her head to let some air find her sweaty neck.

"Nice." Was all she said. There was a low table with a few cushions and a small futon in the room they had entered. She followed the indicated hallway to the bedrooms and opened the doors into two identical tiny bedrooms. Each room had a futon already laid out on the tatami floor.

"Can I have this room?" she asked Kakashi, indicating the one with a large window that looked down on the street. It was filled with the bright daylight and despite having dingy, worn paint it seemed cheerful. "I'd like to be able to see who's coming and going."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "Fine."

Sakura moved into the room and set her pack down in one corner. She looked over her shoulder at Kakashi. "I need to clean up a little, then do you want to do some scouting or figure out what there is to eat around here?"

"Let's do some scouting and get a feel for the town. We'll eat later."

Sakura huffed and turned to pull a scroll from her pack. _Figures, Kakashi never functions like a normal human._

"Alright, I'll be quick." She squeezed past him into the bathroom which had a postage stamp sized bathtub and showering area. At least she didn't have to go down the hall.

She placed the scroll on the counter, made a few hands signs, and slammed her hand down on the piece of paper. With a poof of smoke her bag of toiletries appeared, complete with everything that would last her for up to a month.

She quickly stripped off the sweaty civilian clothes that clung to her body and climbed gratefully into the warm cascade of water. After a few moments of scrubbing she was toweling off and throwing on a clean set of clothes so her captain's irritation at having to wait wouldn't be out of hand. Despite his near constant lateness, his patience with anyone else that didn't run on his schedule was limited.

Once she was clean she entered the living room where Kakashi was sprawled on the futon, reading _Itcha Itcha_.

He glanced up when she walked into the room. "Ready?" he asked.

"Yes, I think so."

"Let's get moving then."

The town was still filled with people and Sakura's stomach grumbled again as they passed the food booths. Kakashi had seemingly forgotten about food and was making a beeline for the section of vendors where weapons were sold. The only bright spot about visiting weapons vendors instead of the food stands was that perhaps she could scout out a nice katana and sneak back and buy it, supposedly as a present for her brother, when Kakashi wasn't around.

When they arrived he made a show of asking pointed, knowledgeable questions about the array of kunai and shuriken available. After having befriended the man Kakashi subtly inquired about placing larger orders. When the man blanched and became somewhat withdrawn, the ninja knew he had hit a nerve. Clearly the vendor was nervous about something.

He quickly changed the subject back to more pleasant topics and the man slowly relaxed. After another moment of conversation he waved Sakura over.

"Turima-san, this is my sister, Kiku-chan. She is my ward since our parents have passed away."

Sakura smiled shyly at the older man from under her dark hair. "Hello Turima-san. I'm pleased to meet you."

"Hello Kiku-san. I hope I can introduce you to my son. He's only a little older than you."

Sakura gritted her teeth but maintained her smile.

"That would be lovely. We know so few people here."

"Well, it was very nice to meet you. Kiku-chan and I are going to find some dinner and then start settling in." Kakashi finally piped up.

"Of course, I wish you the best during your stay here." Turima replied.

With a brotherly hand on her shoulder, Kakashi turned Sakura the other direction and they moved on down the street. At the next weapons dealer they met the performance was repeated, and than again a third time even farther down the street. By the time they finished speaking with the fourth dealer, Kakashi had an appointment for the man to introduce him to his supplier the next day. To put the man at ease Kakashi promptly purchased several kunai from him and slapped him heartily on the back when he offered to introduce his son to Kiku.

Sakura dutifully batted her eyelashes at the man and smiled prettily. _How did I get myself into this one?_

When Kakashi turned from the booth this time Sakura cornered him.

"Hisoka," she growled, "Can you please stop forcing me to flirt with gross old men and take me to find some food?"

"Kiku, I thought you were better able to withstand the urges of the human body." He replied nonchalantly.

He glanced at his teammate and happened to notice how she carefully clenched and unclenched the fist she held at her side, and reconsidered his humor.

"I know I promised to feed you. What do you want?"

She glanced up at him in surprise. "Are you really going to let me pick?"

"No tempura."

She sighed. "Fine, let's go find some broiled fish."

* * *

The next morning was another bright, sunny, and sweltering day. Kakashi had gotten up early to meet the merchant and his mysterious supplier, so Sakura temporarily had the apartment to herself. She dressed and then wandered the town in search of breakfast. She felt as if she had been cooped up in the apartment for over week when in reality it had only been a day. Her muscles were tight, longing for a run or a good spar that would stretch them.

She had grown accustomed to the soreness again. The simple fact that her muscles would always grow stiff, and that they would grumble and complain, was all too familiar to her.

She was glad to see that the village was busy. More people meant more cover for her. Women out buying their groceries for the day moved in and out of the stalls with assurance and efficiency. Some had their little ones along and Sakura smiled to herself as she watched one little boy tug at his mother's yukata. Clearly he was headed for the dango stand two stalls down, but his mother was engrossed in conversation with the shopkeeper, another lady who appeared to be about her age.

Many wonderful smells filled the air and her stomach grumbled. She stopped and bought a small container of soup and some rice, and then she moved easily between the people filling the street until finally she reached a quieter spot. Bright sun shone on the grassy meadow that led down to the river. A stone path meandered through the grass and benches were placed along side it.

Sakura sat to eat on one of these benches and let the sun warm her body. It felt like each ray that touched her picked a muscle to loosen until the tightness in her body began to fade away.

She needed this. This mission. She needed some assurance that she was still good. That she was worthy of her jounin title.

Sakura had felt stripped of all her strength when Nariko died. No amount of chakra, or chakra control for that matter, could have kept Nariko alive. She knew that. She was forcing herself to know that. But, as she often told her patients, grief was a slow and agonizing process.

She ate her food and then moved on to the other market stalls to purchase basic supplies for their tiny apartment. She kept an eye out for Kakashi as she moved from stall to stall, but saw nothing of him the entire time she was in town. Once her arms were loaded with bags, to the point that it might seem suspicious if she carried any more, she returned to their living quarters.

She organized their things, put their groceries away, and managed to kill one more hour before realizing how incredibly bored she was.

Sakura laughed ruefully to herself at the idea of her ever being a regular wife. How could the women stand it? She'd had to keep house on other missions before when undercover, but she found boredom set in after about twelve hours. If a woman's choices for her life were between being a housewife and being a shinobi – with the potential for an early death – she'd take the more life threatening of the two options any day.

When the clock finally read four in the afternoon, Sakura decided she had better put her meager domestic skills to use. The least she could do was have dinner waiting when Kakashi arrived.

She dug through the items she had recently purchased, debating about what to cook. Her mental recipe database was a little limited. After wrinkling her nose in distaste at the several different options that crossed her mind, she had almost resolved to tell Kakashi that he was on his own for food if he wanted more than rice and tea. Sakura heaved a sigh and decided that she could had least bake the fish she had purchased earlier and through it in with some egg and noodles for a decent soup. With new purpose, she set to work.

Her captain barged through the door a few minutes after five. Kakashi was feeling fairly relaxed. So far this mission was nothing to get too excited over. A little undercover, a few questions asked of the appropriate people, and they would be on their way. The apartment was quiet but he had sensed Sakura's presence before he ever walked through the door.

A further look revealed the medic standing over a pot on their small stove and staring suspiciously into it.

"Kiku…?" Kakashi questioned carefully. He was hoping, based on the smell, that she was brewing some kind of poison antidote.

She turned to face him and looked a little sheepish. "Um, I cooked?"

Kakashi thought carefully about his reply for a moment, and then asked, "Is that code for we should get take out?"

He was worried for a moment that she would say no and that he might actually have to choke down a few bites of the awful smelling stuff, but he was saved when the pot came hurtling towards him, soup, spoon, and all. Kakashi had just enough time to realize that super human strength made all the difference when one was up against projectile weapons before the heated pot flew through the spot where his head had been a moment ago.

Steam was practically shooting out Sakura's ears.

"Tempura?" Kakashi questioned, hoping to avoid any further violence.

The steam abruptly tapered off. "Fine." The kunoichi muttered before stalking out of the tiny apartment.

* * *

Kakashi hid his frown at the prospect of eating tempura behind the menu he was now holding up and scrutinized the available options. There had to be something else to eat here besides that awful breaded stuff.

Across from him, Sakura had already chosen her dinner and was waiting patiently for him to do the same. After finally spotting some sort of fish stew, Kakashi placed his menu on the table as well.

"So, brother, what did you do today?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi's eyes slid to the right and to the left, gauging how much he could say in their current surroundings. "Well, I met with one of the suppliers. I was not able to ask for the exact item that I was hoping to acquire, but we have another business meeting scheduled in a couple days."

Sakura regarded Kakashi carefully for a moment. She could see a hint of a smirk peering out from the top of his scarf. Unease slithered through her gut for just a moment.

"What kind of business meeting exactly?"

"Well, ahem, he asked if you and I would like to meet him for dinner tomorrow evening."

Sakura frowned now. "Both of us?"

"Yes. Apparently he keeps a home near here and he's invited us to eat there."

Her scowl deepened. "Well, that certainly seems like a bad situation waiting to happen. We can't have been found out after being here such a short time, have we?"

Kakashi sighed. "I doubt it. I got the impression today that he was a little short on help. Something about a recently increased volume of sales? Maybe he's hoping to hire on extra personnel."

Sakura snorted. "And that involves me how?"

"I doubt it will be anything you'll like. We'll just have to be careful."

Sakura spent the rest of the meal glaring at her plate.

When the next morning arrived Sakura immediately immersed herself in preparing for dinner that evening. She hadn't brought much in the way of dinner-appropriate attire. Not that she owned much to begin with of course.

She headed out into the village to search for appropriate clothing that would allow ample hiding places for weapons. She and Kakashi planned to meet up again late in the afternoon to plan out their basic strategy for the dinner meeting.

Luckily, the kunoichi had spied a couple different dress shops the day before. She wouldn't require anything too fancy – a slightly dressed up yukata aught to do her just fine. She scurried into the one closest to their apartment and emerged an hour later with a carefully wrapped package clutched to her side.

She may not have had the appropriate dress for the evening meal, but she certainly had all the weapons she would need.

Sakura looked carefully up at the sky, judging the time based on the position of the sun. Her body was quickly beginning to fill with anxiety at the prospect of the evening's activities, and she desperately wanted to sneak out of the village and go on a nice run to dispel the tension, but it appeared that she didn't have time. A nice bath at the apartment would have to do instead. Sakura was certain it would take her at least three hours to get into all this restrictive clothing plus the extra time required to stash weapons on every available place on her body.

By the time Kakashi arrived back at the apartment she had managed to hitch herself into two of her three layers. Her new dress was a lovely gray satin with pink edging and matching pink embroidered flowers strewn artistically across the fabric. Luckily, the slip that went under it had pockets in strategic locations and all she had to do was slit the dress in couple spot to access the pockets.

She was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom with the dress half wrapped around herself, kunai gripped in her teeth, struggling with the obi when Kakashi walked in.

His visible eye grew wide when he came around the corned and he halted abruptly in front of the bathroom door.

Sakura glared at him in the mirror when she noticed him standing behind her.

"When was the last time you tried hiding weapons in your dress, brother?" she growled.

"Oh, only a couple weeks ago, you know." He smiled nonchalantly. "Shall I help you tie that?"

She sighed. "Yes please."

Kakashi came closer and took the long ends of the belt in his hands. "Don't they teach this kind of thing at the academy?"

Sakura sighed again. "Too bad I insisted on reading my medical texts during class, isn't it?"

Her captain laughed. "That sounds just like you. Here, turn around and face the mirror."

She obediently turned and faced the mirror so Kakashi could tie the bow. His rough hands grasped the middle of the long strip of fabric and centered the middle of it over her naval.

Sakura could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck and at the exposed skin around her collar when he stepped near her. She suppressed a shudder as his rough hands slipped over her body, neatly wrapping the obi around her. It seemed so long since anyone had touched her.

It had felt silly to let him tie it for her at first, but now it was all Sakura could do not to jerk at his touch. She willed herself to hold perfectly still as he let the fabric slide through his fingers with practiced hands as he placed it snugly around her waist.

For a moment she let herself smell his masculine scent of pine and musk.

Kakashi neatly finished off her dress by tying the obi in a pretty bow at the small of her back. As he prepared to draw away to a polite distance, his fingers flexed at his side, longing to run over the satin one more time.

He smiled at her in the mirror. "All done." He said quietly. The dress was an excellent choice for her – the gray accented her newly darkened hair and the embroidery brought out the delicate pink of her blushing cheeks.

"You look lovely." He complimented.

Sakura gulped down the lump that had formed in her throat.

"Thank you." She replied quietly.

"Are you all ready to go?" Kakashi asked.

"Almost." The medic changed her grip on the kunai she'd been using and began patting down her outer thigh until she found the spot she'd been looking for. With a mental grin of glee, she slashed through the satin to create a small opening for her hand to reach the kunai strapped under the dress.

Total, she had managed to hide about 15 different bladed weapons on herself. Her favorites were the delicate, cherry blossom senbon that pierced the bun on the back of her head. What kunoichi left the house without her trusty hair piece weapons?

Sakura glanced at herself in the mirror one more time. She could handle this. She was back in shape, she was well trained, and above all, she was with Kakashi. The mission would go just fine.

She turned back to her captain. "Let's go."


End file.
